By Nick Langan
The HBCU Radio Preservation Project is hosting its third annual symposium Thursday at Morgan State University, celebrating the return of more than 200 hours of restored archival broadcasts to 88.9 WEAA(FM) in Baltimore.
WEAA is the Class B1 nonprofit and NPR affiliate station licensed and owned by Morgan State.
Held in partnership with WEAA, the university’s journalism and communication school and the Earl S. Richardson Library, the event brings together broadcast professionals, academic archivists and students from across the country, a release said.
The day-long symposium on Thursday runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the University Student Center. Panels and presentations focus on three tracks: the practical workflow of audio preservation across institutions, the role of HBCU stations as hands-on learning laboratories for students and the value of oral histories in preserving radio heritage.
For those interested in attending the symposium virtually, here are links to the livestream of this year’s day-long program on Thursday. It will be streamed live on YouTube.
A reception on Wednesday, meanwhile, marked the formal return of 212 hours of digitized audio documenting WEAA’s broadcast history since the station signed on in 1977. The celebration featured an audio montage combining vintage station recordings with oral histories gathered by the project.
Complementing the digitized airchecks are 16 oral history interviews conducted over the past year with key figures in the station’s history. Among those interviewed are U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), one of the founding members of WEAA; Dr. Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, host of “Today with Dr. Kaye”; and recently retired WEAA General Manager Charles Shahid.
The oral histories are permanently housed at Jackson State University’s Margaret Walker Center and are accessible online through the HBCU RPP website.
Attendees include representatives from numerous HBCU stations, many of whom belong to the Black Public Radio Network, as well as institutional library personnel. Concluding the week’s events, the Northeast Document Conservation Center will conduct a technical preservation workshop for library staff on Friday.