The Boston Radio Experience: Pioneering New Technology in the Early Twentieth Century (original) (raw)

2019, The Boston Radio Experience: Pioneering New Technology in the Early Twentieth Century

Central to early radio exploration and development was the city of Boston, Massachsuetts. Through its early amateur wireless clubs and societies and on to its pioneering amateurs and leading entrepreneurs, including merchant, John Shepard III, the city can lay claim to its share of pivotal advances in the growth of the medium: the first known continuous transmission, the earliest daily news program, the initial chain broadcast (Boston to New York), as well as several openings for black performers, including African-American vaudeville stars Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake. This article reflects on the significant involvement that two Boston radio stations, 1XE and WNAC, had on the trajectory of early radio, with particular emphasis on their roles in construction, transmission, and programming. While the success of radio was for the most part a national progression, arguably nowhere else were the foundations for its success more decisively laid than in Boston.