Inventory of the WGST Radio Station Records, 1928-1975

MS #008

Administrative History of WGST Radio Station

In 1922 the Atlanta Constitution founded a radio station in response to its rival newspaper's station, WSB, which was owned by the Atlanta Journal. Clark Howell, newspaper editor and owner of the Constitution, offered the station to Georgia Tech in 1923 as a gift. President Marion L. Brittain accepted it on behalf of the state. The license was allowed to expire in 1924, but in the following year, a new license was granted with the call letters WGST, standing for Georgia School of Technology.

For five years, the studio was located on the third floor of the Electrical Engineering Building. The Southern Broadcasting Company (SBC) signed a 20-year lease to take control of the operations in 1930 and moved the radio station studio to the Ansley Hotel, but in 1941, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia sought to void the contract. They accused SBC of unethical financial transactions. Governor Eugene Talmadge tapped theater owners Arthur Lucas and William K. Jenkins to take over operations of WGST. SBC contested this turn of events to the Federal Communications Commission. Consequently, the State Attorney General became involved in the legal battle over the control of operations of the state-owned radio station. The Board of Regents proposed that Georgia Tech would take over operations of the radio station, but they were contractually obligated to SBC until 1950. The FCC refused to renew the license unless the Board of Regents broke the SBC contract.

As a result, the Board of Regents assumed control of operations in 1946. In 1950, WGST became an American Broadcasting Company (ABC) affiliate. By 1973 the Board of Regents declared WGST surplus property and offered it up for sale. It had always been a commercial station with no student input or support, but it could not continue to compete with the other Atlanta radio stations. (Georgia Tech had its own student station, WREK.) At five million dollars, the highest bidder was the Meredith Corporation of Des Moines, Iowa. Much opposition to the sale of the radio station came from the governor, legislators, and alumni, but the Board of Regents approved the sale and in the following year, operations were turned over to the Meredith Corporation.

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Description

The WGST Radio Station Records document the history of the station, from its founding to its eventual sale, spanning a total of 52 years. Correspondence was typically exchanged between the station personnel and the Board of Regents or other Georgia radio stations and concerned daily operations and the two court cases. Broadcast agreements were also discussed.

The affidavits and court statements stem from two separate lawsuits. The first involved the station's affiliation with the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1947. CBS did not give fair and proper notification that it would not be sponsoring WGST after its current contract ended. The court ordered that a one-year extension be added to give WGST sufficient time to find another broadcasting affiliation. The American Broadcasting Company picked up the radio station in the following year.

The other lawsuit in 1951 involved the rights to a television channel. Atlanta had four television channel signals that the Federal Communications Commission assigned to the area and WSB owned two of them, but was putting one up for sale. A group of private citizens organized themselves together to form Broadcasting, Inc. to buy it. That impending sale came under protest from WGST, who had sought for years to obtain a channel, but the court refused to impose an injunction.

The financial statements are mostly comprised of commercial businesses that did not pay their advertising fees over a period of time. The transactions and correspondence from the collection agency document the success or failure of WGST to collect these funds. Employee pay sheets are also included in this collection.

The last two boxes contain contractual agreements for broadcasting collegiate football games, the Peach Bowl, and auto racing events. The last folder includes the station's broadcasting schedule for the years 1961-1966.

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Arrangement

Correspondence is arranged chronologically in Box 1. Legal documents concerning the various lawsuits are contained in Box 2. Financial statements and accounts comprise Boxes 3 and 4. Broadcast contracts are contained in the last two boxes of this collection.

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Restrictions

Restrictions: Access

None.

Restrictions: Use

Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the Head of Archives and Special Collections.

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Subject Headings

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Please cite WGST Radio Station Records (MS #008), Archives, Library and Information Center, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Provenance

Accession #1985.0806 (old number: 85-08-06).

Processing Information

Yen M. Tang processed these papers in 2000.

Revision Information

December 2005: Finding aid converted from Encoded Archival Description Version 1.0 to Version 2002.

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Other Finding Aids

A print copy of this finding aid is available in the Georgia Tech Archives reading room.

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Folder List

Box	Folder
1	1	Correspondence - Dr. M. L. Brittain, 1935-1941.
	2	Correspondence - Southern Broadcasting Co., 1941.
	3	Correspondence, 1941-1958.
	4	Correspondence, 1941-1958.
	5	Correspondence, 1941-1958.
	6	Correspondence - CBS lawsuit, 1947-1948.
	8	Correspondence - Broadcasting, Inc., 1951.
	9	Correspondence - Board of Regents, 1956-1958.
	10	Correspondence - Board of Regents, 1956-1958.
Box	Folder
2	1	Legal Documents, 1946-1951.
	2	Legal Documents, 1946-1951.
	3	Legal Documents, 1946-1951.
	4	Affidavits - John Fulton, 1947.
	5	Affidavit - Blake Van Leer , 1947.
	6	Affidavit - Raymond Paty, 1947.
	7	Affidavit - Frank Spratlin, 1947.
	8	Affidavit - Rutherford Ellis, 1947.
	9	Affidavit - Frank Neely , 1947.
	10	Affidavits - Fred Borton, 1947.
	11	Affidavit - John Knight, 1947.
	12	Affidavit - John Norton, Jr., 1947.
	13	Affidavit - C. E. Hooper, 1947.
	14	Affidavit - Hugh Feltis, 1947.
	15	Affidavit - Quincy Sutton, 1947.
	16	Affidavit - Andrew Ring, 1947.
	17	Affidavit - Frank Maier, 1947.
	18	Affidavit - William Neal, 1947.
	19	Affidavit - Charles Rawson, 1947.
	20	Affidavit - Madelinn Chace, 1947.
	21	Affidavit - Jack Briscoe, 1947.
	22	Affidavit - Paul Porter, 1947.
	23	Affidavit - Ben Akerman, 1947.
	24	Affidavit - William Wheeler, 1947.
	25	Affidavit - B. E. Thrasher, Jr., 1947.
Box	Folder
3	1	WGST File Photographs, undated.
	2	Drawings - Control Board, 1928-1929.
	3	History of WGST, 1929-1937.
	4	Manuals - Switchboard, 1932.
	5	Sound Systems, 1934-1939.
	6	Administrative Files, 1936-1947.
	7	Georgia Radio Commission, 1937-1940.
	8	Technical Articles, 1939-1941.
	9	WGST Press Releases, 1939-1943.
	10	WGST Radio Station Building, 1941-1958.
	11	Technical Equipment Depreciation Schedules, 1955-1970.
	12	WGST/Retirement System, 1957.
Box	Folder
4	1-2	Financial Records - Deferred Charges, 1971-1975.
	3	Beef House Restaurant Account, 1971-1972.
	4	Eng Enterprises Account, 1971-1974.
	5	Beman and Williams Account, 1970-1974.
	6	Joseph Dance, Jr. Account, 1969-1970.
	7	Seventh House Account, 1973.
	8	Georgia Photo Service/Colorworld Account, 1968-1971.
	9	ACM Advertising Mini Cinema Account, 1971-1972.
	10	Terrell and Company Account, 1969-1970.
	11	Du Bois and Associates Account, 1970.
	12	WSEM Radio Station Account, 1967-1971.
	13	WDYX Radio Station Account, 1967-1970.
	14	Falls College Account, 1968-1969.
	15	Jane Rhodes Advertising Account, 1968.
	16	Newnan Broadcasting Account, 1966-1967.
	17	Hanson R. Carter Account, 1967.
	18	Pitch and Putt Account, 1966-1967.
	19	International Park Billiard Parlor Account, 1965.
	20	Thomas County Broadcasting Company Account, 1962-1963.
	21	McNiel Boat Works Account, 1960-1961.
	22	Georgia Record Distributor Account, 1963-1964.
	23	Lymburner Nurseries, Inc. Account, 1961-1963.
	24	Cleve Warnock Account, 1961-1963.
	25	Overseas Services Account, 1971-1972.
	26	Mediterranean Reducing Salon Account, 1972.
	27	Continental Advertising Account, 1967.
	28	Radio Station WMES Account, 1966-1971.
	29	Paul Neuda Advertising Account, 1970.
	30	WDAX Radio Station Account, 1967-1969.
	31	The Blue Cockatoo Account, 1967-1969.
	32	Walt Broom Company Account, 1967-1968.
	33	American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Account, 1960-1962.
	34	Maxim Advertising Agency Account, 1965-1966.
	35	Radio Station WSYL Account, 1960-1966.
Box	Folder
5	1	Radio Station WGML Account, 1965-1966.
	2	National Carpet Company Account, 1965-1966.
	3	Radio Station WPGA Account, 1963-1965.
	4	Don Nixon Advertising Agency Account, 1965.
	5	Dutch Oven Bakeries, Inc. Account, 1963-1965.
	6	McCane Advertising Agency Account, 1963-1964.
	7	Sid H. Dunken Agency Account, 1962.
	8	Imported Auto Accessories, Inc. Account, 1961-1962.
	9	Briarcliff Hotel Account, 1962-1963.
	10	Americana Credit Card Company Account, 1962-1963.
	11	Ellgordo's Account, 1961-1963.
	12	Belman Jewelry Company Account, 1961-1962.
	13	Invoices (Electric Co.), 1939.
	14	Outside Talent & Employee Pay Sheets, 1965-1973.
	15	Blair Radio Commission Statements, 1967-1973.
	16	Blair Radio Commission Statements, 1967-1973.
	17	Blair Radio Commission Statements, 1967-1973.
	18	Blair Radio Commission Statements, 1967-1973.
	19	Blair Radio Commission Statements, 1967-1973.
	20	Blair Radio Commission Statements, 1967-1973.
	21	Blair Radio Commission Statements, 1967-1973.
Box	Folder
6	1	F.C.C., 1934-1935.
	2	F.C. C. Licenses, 1941.
	3	F. C. C. Applications, 1956.
	4	Federal Radio Commission, 1933-1936.
	5	Federal Radio Commission Permits, 1932-1934.
	6	Trade-Outs - Comstock Distributing Company, 1965-1972.
	7	Trade-Outs - WTCG Channel 17, 1969-1971.
	8	Trade-Outs - Alfred L. Lino and Associates, 1970-1971.
	9	Trade-Outs - Bridal Publications, 1971-1972.
	10	Trade-Outs - Squit-Arpege Perfume, 1971.
	11	Trade-Outs - Neighbor Newspapers, Inc., 1971-1972.
	12	Trade-Outs - Original Sound Recording Company, 1971-1972.
	13	Trade-Outs - Various, 1971-1973.
Box	Folder
7	1	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	2	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	3	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	4	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	5	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	6	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	7	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	8	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	9	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	10	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	11	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	12	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	13	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	14	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	15	Broadcast Contracts and Correspondence, 1958-1972.
	16	Auto Racing Broadcast Agreements, 1964-1969.
	17	Auto Racing Broadcast Agreements, 1964-1969.
	18	Auto Racing Broadcast Agreements, 1964-1969.
	19	Auto Racing Broadcast Agreements, 1964-1969.
	20	Auto Racing Broadcast Agreements, 1964-1969.
	21	Auto Racing Broadcast Agreements, 1964-1969.
	22	"Pick of Dixie" Rights (Purchased), 1961-1969.
	23	"Pick of Dixie" Rights (Sold), 1962-1971.
	24	Station Broadcasting Schedule, 1961-1966.

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2005 Georgia Institute of Technology :: Atlanta, Georgia 30332