1922- Sr. Class gives Radio Receiving Station to SC as gift
1942-1949- Radio in Room surcharge $.50/semester listed in college catalog
1949- Speech lab and Radio Station (department) dedicated in May (lab and department in Knutti)
1950's-Voice of Shepherd (radio dept) provided content for WEPM Martinsburg broadcasts, including radio plays
1973-WSHC on air in Dec
1981-Items stolen from radio station, found in Martinsburg WV pawnshop
1982-Radio station changes FM frequency from 88.7 FM to 93.7 FM
1990-WV Public Radio sets up an office in Sara Cree Hall
1992-Radio station changes station frequency from 93.7 FM to 89.7 FM
1993-WSHC broken into again; 3/4 CD collection taken
2023- Radio station WSHC still on air; schedule is posted online
From the back of the display to the front
1920's advertisement of Radio Receiving Station
Shepherd College Jazz Ensemble Live! vinyl record
Copy of 1978 yearbook photo of WSHC Studio in Knutti Hall
Vinyl records, such as the Shepherd College Jazz Ensemble: Live! (currently in the display case) are played on record players.
In the Special Collections room of the library, a small record player is stored.
Please contact the Special Collections Librarian at fmarshal@shepherd.edu if you wish to view or potentially use this device.
This term's display, titled "More Than Music: The Radio at Shepherd 1922-2023" is a celebration of the radio at Shepherd from 1922 to the present. Did you know that the campus has a radio station that runs out of the basement of Knutti Hall? From its arrival to to its continuation in a time of multiple types of broadcast mediums, radio has shaped generations of students.
Display photo taken by Ms. Tara Carlisle
 |
 |
 |
 |
2023 Spring Display Center of Case (photos are in order from the back of the case
$.50 (two quarters) to represent the fee for having a private radio in the dorm room during the 1940's
Photo of two girls listening to their radio in a dorm room
Copy of Student Activities page from 1949 College Catalog
Photo of two young men in the radio studio
Display title and sources (center of display)
Photos taken by Ms. Tara Carlisle
The Senior Class of 1922 recognized the possibilities of radio at Shepherd before the communication medium became a "household" technology. During the 1940's, there was a surcharge for having a personal radio in the dorms; by the 1960's, there was a solid curriculum in Radio Broadcasting available. In 1973, the college station was live on the FM band.
While radio stations seem to have faded in communication prominence due to television and computer mediums of broadcasting, they still exist; this includes Shepherd University's own campus-run station, WSHC 89.7 FM, that runs out of the same place that once housed the Radio Receiving Station: Knutti Hall.
Part of the Communication and New Media department. the radio station allows students to practice broadcasting on a medium where sound alone is used to provide information, entertainment, and connection with the world.
From the back of the case to the front:
1954 College Catalog open to Radio Courses
The Great American Fourth of July Parade : A Verse Play for Radio by Archibald MacLeish
Music CD
WSHC Weekly Schedule for Jan 8-Jan 14, 2023
The compact disc (CD) also in the display can be played using a disc drive on the computer or using a CD player.
Cassette tapes are also a still-recognized storage and playback medium for audio performances, but the tapes and the equipment to play them have fallen out of general use since the later 1990's.