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Beth E. Burrows papers

 Collection 0109-MMC

Beth Elpern Burrows is an experienced radio writer and producer, who worked in public broadcasting from 1966 to 1977 at WHA-AM in Madison, Wisconsin. The collection contains recordings of programs written and/or produced by Beth Burrows during this period including Fitzgerald's Prophecy (an oral history of Grand Rapids, Michigan); Tools (four series of programs about drug education); Reckoning with Boris (a series for teaching third grade mathematics); The Way It Was (docu-dramas about 19th century American history; and The Inner Core Project (various documentaries from a week of programming on Milwaukee's inner city.) The collection also contains scripts, clippings, and viewer letters related to these programs.

Dates

  • Creation: 1968-1979
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1968-1972

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to the public and must be used in the Maryland Room. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

This collection contains audiovisual materials. Items that cannot be used in the Special Collections reading room or are too fragile for researchers require that a digital copy be made prior to use. If you would like to access these materials, please contact us prior to your visit, so we may determine the proper steps to be taken.

Conditions Governing Use

Photocopies or digital surrogates may be provided in accordance with Special Collections and University Archives duplication policy. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.

Archival materials may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during our processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the reading room staff.

Extent

3.5 Linear Feet (5 hollinger boxes; 1 oversize box; 1 item in shared LP box; )

24 Tape Reels : 1/4 open reel tape ; 7 inches

3 Tape Reels : 1/4 open reel tape ; 10.5 inches

3 Tape Reels : 1/4 open reel tape ; 5 inches

1 Sound Discs

Language of Materials

English

Biographical / Historical

Beth Burrows and her husband Ed Burrows were active in the public radio community in Wisconsin and Michigan. Ed worked at the National Center for Audio Experimentation at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Beth worked at WHA, an AM radio station managed by the University of Wisconsin, Madison. It was officially licensed in 1922, although the first successful audio transmissions from the station were reportedly performed in March 1919, which is considered by some to be the date of its founding.

Beth also worked at WUOM/WVPR in Michigan, where she developed the Fitzgerald's prophecy radio series. This series was based on oral history interviews she conducted with longtime residents of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged as three series.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was donated to the University of Maryland Libraries by Beth Burrows in June of 1994.

Related Materials

Materials related to the radio series "Fitzgerald's Prophecy" can be found at the University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library in their Grand Valley State Colleges oral history project collection. The collection contains the original oral history tapes used to create the radio series. The collection is open for research through the University of Michigan.

The Edwin G. Burrows papers are also housed at the University of Maryland and are open for research.

Title
Guide to the Beth E. Burrows Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Rebecca Thayer.
Date
2017-04-20
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Revision Statements

  • 2017-09-18: Finding Aid reviewed and minor updates made by Joanne Archer. Notations made about missing items. Biography updated.
  • 2022-01-28: Jim Baxter re-wrote the collection abstract; Sam O'Donnell made minor updates to the biography.

Library Details

Part of the Special Collections and University Archives

Contact:
University of Maryland Libraries
Hornbake Library
4130 Campus Drive
College Park Maryland 20742
301-405-9212