WGAZ/WSBT Station records

The WGAZ/WSBT Station Records contain information pertaining to the origins and early operations of radio station WGAZ/WSBT in South Bend, Indiana. WGAZ was Indiana's first commercial radio station, owned by the South Bend Tribune newspaper. WGAZ broadcast its first commercial radio program on July 3, 1922. The station was started and managed by Tribune staff member, Eugene Leuchtman. In 1925, the station's call letters were changed to WSBT. WSBT-TV began in 1952, becoming America's first commercially-built UHF station. The collection dates from 1922 to 1973 with the bulk of the material dating from 1922 to 1955. Contents include station logbooks covering the mid to late 1920s containing program and performance notes as well as technical records; historical commentary concerning the station, including several handwritten notes as well as a printed promotional brochure with important dates in the station's history; publicity material, consisting mostly of newspaper clippings from the South Bend Tribune; a few items of station related correspondence and a couple of miscellaneous items including a 1972-1973 calendar of WSBT history.