Monday, May 12, 2008

WRUC at Union College - College Radio Pioneer

An article in today's Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY) discusses the long history of Union College station WRUC 89.7 FM, which calls itself "the first station in the nation" on its website. According to the piece:

"Student radio at Union dated from 1910...That was the year two students began to set up a wireless telegraph station as part of their senior thesis work in electrical engineering. A radio club held its first meeting Oct. 29, 1915..."


According to the WRUC website:

"WRUC was first known as 2ADD and signed on at 8pm, October 1, 1920. Two young men hooked together five U tubes and attempted to broadcast 27 minutes of music. The show lasted from 8pm to 8:30pm with a 3 minute interuption [sic] at 8:15. William G. Craig, a 1923 graduate, was the station's first announcer, and Glen C. Mercer, a 1916 graduate, built the first station. The first song to be played at the station was, 'Tell Me Little Gypsy' by John Steel..."

The history section of the WRUC website includes links to old program guides (as far back as 1976), articles about the station, and other historical artifacts. According to the current program guide, WRUC broadcasts from 1pm-1am every day.

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