Morris S. Novik papers

Morris S. Novik was born in Nevel, Russia in 1903. He came to the United States when he was eleven years old with his mother and his two younger brothers. It was in New York City where the family settled that Novik first met his father who had come to the United States years earlier. He was educated at a Yeshiva in the city but after graduating decided that he did not want to continue his religious education so at the age of fourteen he was sent to public school.

At this time Novik became involved with the social-political changes of 1917 engendered by the Russian Revolution. He headed a local chapter of the Young People's Socialist League while he was working at the Daily Record, a newspaper covering issues relating to the manufacture of clothing. He then received a scholarship to the Rand School which Novik described as a "right-wing socialist school of learning". During this time he became very involved in the socialist movement, starting a magazine called The Monthly Free Youth and serving as its editor.

In the early twenties Novik became involved with the Discussion Guild, arranging lectures and debates of well known writers and lecturers. The first speaker he engaged was noted British philosopher Bertrand Russell, who subsequently asked for Novik to represent him in future United States engagements. Through his work with the Discussion Guild Novik also became the manager for Clarence Darrow.

Novik entered the field of broadcasting in 1932 when he was asked to take over the management of radio station WEVD in New York. It was during this time that he also founded the University of the Air. He was recruited by New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to run radio station WNYC. Novik declined until Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938. He realized it was more important now to keep democracy over the airwaves than to promote socialism and labor interests as he was doing at WEVD. He became director of communications at WNYC (1938-1946) and it was at this position that he coined the term "public broadcasting." It was also during this time that he became involved in the genesis of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters. Novik claimed he was one of the seven men who met in Ames, Iowa in 1939 to plan the permanent organization of this association. He then served as its first executive secretary from 1941 to 1948. Subsequently, Novik was involved in buying or establishing radio stations in Detroit, Cleveland, and the New York area.

After leaving WNYC in 1946 Novik helped establish radio stations in Detroit and Cleveland. In 1950 he bought the station WLIB in New York on which he established Black radio programming, amidst a growing industry of programming directed at African American audiences. He kept this station for 5 years, selling it to his brother Harry in 1955 when he then bought the Italian station WOV. He kept the Italian language format at WOV during his ownership but upon selling this station in 1959 this format was abandoned by the new owners.

Novik maintained a long relationship with the labor movement, serving as a communications consultant for the American Federation of Labor and later for the merged American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). His career also included some presidential appointments. In 1952 President Truman appointed him to be delegate to the UNESCO conference in Paris. In 1953 he participated in the UNESCO London conference on TV, advising Europeans on how to establish television stations. He was also selected by President Kennedy to serve on the U.S. Advisory Commission on Information in 1962. President Johnson reappointed him to that body.

Morris S. Novik died in 1996.