THE CHARLES HERROLD STORY
A television documentary on early radio from Mike Adams.
Charles Herrold (1875-1948) is one of Broadcasting's forgotten fathers. From his wireless college in San Jose, California Herrold transmitted between 1912 and 1917 weekly programs of music and talk designed to entertain a small but loyal audience. This was ten years before licensed radio broadcasting, before even the word "radio" was popularly used. His broadcasts happened at a time when most wireless transmission was two-way communication using Morse code and the perfection of the vacuum tube transmitter for voice was still several years away. Herrold used a crude arc transmitter of his own design to present regularly scheduled broadcasts. He may have been ahead of his time. But most people know very little about his life, his work, or his significance. He has all but vanished from history. Until now.
1916 San Jose Mercury Herald
Mike Adams, Professor of Radio and Television at San Jose State University, has been researching Herrold for several years. Based on the pioneering 1958 research by retired San Jose State professor Gordon Greb, Adams was able to read all the collected papers, patents, drawings, and correspondence of Herrold, and he has located and restored old film and put onto videotape several hundred photographs that illustrate the Herrold story. Adams has also interviewed historians, eyewitnesses, and surviving Herrold family members and friends in an effort to tell the complete Herrold story. In an effort to place thedocumentary material in the context of the wireless hobby, dramatic re-creation is used to show the excitement surrounding the discovery of a new technology, and its influence on the young men who were Herrold's students, circa 1912.
This one-hour documentary was produced, written and directed by Adams in association with San Jose PBS station KTEH and distributed it to PBS stations nationwide. The Perham Foundation is making copies available for $29.95 plus $3.50 s&h. Order directly from them at 101 N. First Street, Suite 394, Los Altos, CA 94022 or call 1-800-771-KTEH and use your credit card. All profits go to support the preservation of electronics history.
The production script can be found on producer Mike Adam's web site.
Copyright 1994 California Historical Radio Society, all rights reserved.
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