Scope and arrangement
The WPA Radio Scripts consist of final drafts of radio plays and other texts produced by the Federal Theatre of the Air. Most scripts are from either the New York or Los Angeles offices of the Federal Theatre Project. In some instances copies of scripts for the same program but from different jurisdictions are included in the same series. Notable programs represented in the collection include adaptations of the plays of Henrik Ibsen and Oscar Wilde, operettas by Gilbert & Sullivan, a series called A Capella in Bronze featuring the WPA Negro Radio Chorus and focusing on stories of particular interest to African-Americans, adaptations of books such as Dickens' Pickwick Papers and plays such as Tolstoy's Redemption, Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer and MoliƩre's Tartuffe. A 1939 series celebrating Jazz entitled The Story of Swing devotes episodes to Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and the Dorsey Brothers. Turning Points in Famous Lives dramatizes key moments in the lives of John Paul Jones, Sarah Bernhardt, Louis Pasteur, Isaac Newton, Billy the Kid, Joseph Stalin, and others. The Living Newspaper, adapted from a concurrent Federal Theatre Project stage production, dramatizes contemporary problems facing listeners in daily life.
The WPA Radio Scripts are arranged in 121 series:
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1938 June-Nov.18 folders
Featuring the WPA Negro Radio Chorus, this radio series highlighted black gospel music, black poetry, writers and themes.
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1938 July 10 - 1938 Sept. 1810 folders
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1939 Jan. 211 folder
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1938 Oct. 3 - 1938 Oct. 263 folders
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1939 May 10 - 1939 June 214 folders
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1937 May 31 - 1939 June 2324 folders
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3 folders
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1937 Dec. 4 - 1938 Mar. 127 folders
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10 folders
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1 folder
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1939 Mar. 29 - 1939 May 23 folders
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1 folder
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1938 Nov. 15 - 1938 Nov. 262 folder
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1936 Dec. 7 - 1938 Mar. 814 folders
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1937 Apr. 25 - 1939 July 221 box (44 folders
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1938 Dec. 20 - 1939 May 1521 folders
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1939 June 5 - 1939 July 2818 folders
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19392 folders
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1937 Jan. 2 - 1938 Oct. 192 boxes
Radio program is also known as Dramatic Fragments from Life.
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1938 May 7 - 1938 July 2712 folders
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1 folder
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1938 Nov. 1 - 1938 Dec. 27; n.d.9 folders
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1938 July 10 - 1939 Jan. 2228 folders
Program was about Catherine the Great of Russia and sometimes had the sub-title, The Life of Catherine the Great.
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n.d.1 folder
Radio play about Catherine the Great and her lover, Gregory Orloff. Does not appear to be one of the episodes of the series although it is entitled Empress of Hearts.
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1937 Nov. 28 - 1938 Apr. 2116 folders
Radio program about the history and development of America, based upon James Truslow Adams' history The Epic of America.
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ca. 19362 folders
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1938 July 4 - 1938 Sept. 2613 folders
Series of broadcasts devoted to experiments in interpreting symphonic music with synchronized dialogue.
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1937 Nov. 5 - 1939 Jan. 1645 folders
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1937 Apr. 3 - 1937 Aug. 2513 folders
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1937 Nov. 11 - 1939 Mar. 213 folders
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1938 Oct. 17 - 1939 Feb. 612 folders
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1937 May 17 - 1939 May 242 folders
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1937 Jan. 28 - 1937 July 624 folders
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1 folder
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1939 May 21-275 folders
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1936 Oct. 271 folder
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1936 June 201 folder
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1937 June 11 - 1938 Aug. 1418 folders
Series was also known as Gilbert and Sullivan Series.
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5 folders
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1936 Aug. 27 - 19383 boxes
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1938 Jan. 31 - 1938 June 201 box
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1938 July - Sept.1 box
Scripts include original airings and reruns.
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ca. 19381 box
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1937 July 6 - 1937 Sept. 219 folders
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1937 Nov. 23 - 1938 Aug. 103 folders
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1938 Nov. 2 - 1939 May 38 folders
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1 folder
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1937 Oct 17 - 1938 June 232 boxes
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1939 May 1 - 1939 June 271 box
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1938 Apr. 9 - 1938 Sept. 2425 folders
This radio program focused on historic sketches of landmarks in the City of San Francisco.
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1938 Feb. 27 - 1938 July 319 folders
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1937 Nov. 9 - 1937 Dec. 216 folders
Radio program which gave dramatic reviews of the highlights of current literature.
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1938 June 11 - 1939 June 1747 folders
Radio program dealing with drama on the highways from the San Francisco Department of Motor Vehicles.
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11 folders
Radio edition of The Living Newspaper by Thom K. Corless, a dramatization of human problems, adapted from a production running at the Biltmore Theatre during the same time.
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1937 Jan. 10 - 1938 May 82 boxes + 15 folders
Radio dramatizations of Bible stories.
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1938 June 30 - 1939 Apr. 222 boxes
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1937 Aug. 23 - 1938 Jan. 261 box
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1938 Mar. 27 - 1938 Sept. 121 box
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1938 Oct. - 1939 Apr. 2623 folders
Radio program about Los Angeles, past and present.
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1938 Aug. 3 - 1938 Oct. 2510 folders
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1938 Oct. 7 - 1938 Nov. 44 folders
First episode is entitled National Public Housing Committee.
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ca. 1939 June 9 - 1939 June 162 folders
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1939 June 11 - 1939 Aug. 14 folders
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1 folder
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1938 Dec. - 1939 Mar.14 folders
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1938 Mar. 5 - 1939 July 211 box
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1937 Oct. 5 - 1937 Nov. 235 folders
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1938 Dec. 2 - 1939 Feb. 271 box + 14 folders
Radio program that highlighted individual neighborhoods in New York City.
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1938 Dec. 5 - 1939 Feb. 271 box
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11 folders
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1939 June 3 - 1939 July 14 folders
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1939 Apr. 3 - 1940 Mar. 1425 folders
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1936 Dec. 81 folder
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1938 Mar. 28 - 1938 July 2618 folders
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1936 Sept. 3 - 1938 Aug. 193 boxes
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1936 Dec. 14 - 1938 Oct. 154 boxes
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1937 Jan. 27 - 1937 Aug. 924 folders
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1937 Feb. 12 - 1938 Feb. 251 box 21 folders
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1 folder
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1 folder
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1 folder
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1937 Feb. 15 - 1937 Apr. 211 box
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1 folder
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3 folders
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1936 Aug. 191 folder
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1937 May 31 - 1937 Oct. 241 box
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1938 Mar. 27 - 1938 Sept. 171 box
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1938 Mar. 201 folder
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1938 Mar. 3 - 1939 July 51 box
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1939 Feb. 71 folder
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ca. 1938 July 2 - 1939 Feb. 181 box
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1938 Nov. 11 - 1939 Apr. 204 folders
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1937 Apr. 14 - May 192 folders
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1 folder
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1939 Apr. - July 913 folders
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1936 Oct. 271 folder
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1938 Apr. 4 - 1938 July 241 box
Dual date and episode numbers appear for these productions. One set represents the New York (WNYC) air date and the other the Los Angeles (KFAC) air date. For simplicity, all episodes have been organized by the New York date and episode number.
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1937 Apr. 271 folder
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1938 July 10 - 1939 Mar. 302 boxes
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1939 Jan. 13 - 1939 May 311 box
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1939 May1 folder
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1938 May - 1939 Jan. 1617 folders
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1937 Dec. 251 folder
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1938 Feb. 16 - 1938 Mar. 232 folders
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1939 Apr. 14 - 1939 June 234 folders
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1936 Aug. 26 - 1937 Jan. 68 folders
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1 folder
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1937 Oct. 14 - 1938 Feb. 2819 folders
Also known as The Adventures of Tish by Mary Roberts Rinehart.
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1937 Feb. 2 - 1937 Apr. 1311 folders
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1937 Jan. 9 - 1938 Oct. 202 boxes
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1938 Aug. 30 - 1939 July 121 box
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1 folder
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1938 Dec. 7 - 1939 Mar. 1513 folders
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1 folder
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ca. 1939 Jan. 1 - June 2426 folders
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1939 May 19 - July 2110 folders
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1938 Apr. 8 - Oct. 141 box
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1938 July 10 - Oct. 1614 folders
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1936 Nov. 14 - 1937 Jan. 174 folders
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2 folders