Inside the WGBH Open Vault  

 

 

WGBH NEWS

Witness to History: The 1963 March on Washington


GET THE STORY
LISTEN TO ENTIRE DAY OF THE MARCH
WGBH Radio hosts Callie Crossley and Bob Seay present a new documentary that will transport listeners back to one of the most important days in the American Civil Rights movement, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. 

Wednesday at 2pm on 89.7 WGBH
OPEN VAULT

A Portrait of Elaine Noble


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By Elizabeth Dean
In a time when both women's and gay rights were profusely debated, Elaine Noble took her seat in the Massachusetts State House. She was the first openly gay candidate in the country to win a state office—but as you'll see, her focus was on helping her constituents.
OPEN VAULT

Chess Records, the Chicago Blues, and the Rolling Stones


Rock & Roll on Open Vault
Producers of Rock & Roll, the acclaimed 10-part WGBH and BBC co-production from 1995, sought out the founders of Chess Records, the men behind the “hallowed ground” for an episode on the electric blues and the 1960s British Invasion.
OPEN VAULT

Searching a Haunted Past


Digging up a sidewalk in a small town in eastern Poland, three men unearth gravestones from a vanished culture. A black-gowned priest fetches tools to help them as a young boy looks on. The artifacts they seek are not ancient; this culture disappeared just 50 years ago. But time is running out for the three searchers. In a few years, all the living witnesses to this buried culture will be gone. 
 
OPEN STUDIO

Eleanor vs. JFK–The Back Story


By Elizabeth Deane
At first glance, the 1962 black-and-white video doesn’t appear to capture anything more than a straightforward interview. But watch closely, and read on to discover how these two had a rocky history


WGBH Open Vault

ABC Newsman John Scali Talks About the Cuban Missile Crisis


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By Elizabeth Deane
Hear former ABC reporter John Scali describe his involvement with a high-ranking Soviet Embassy contact at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Later discoveries revealed Scali's story to be misleading. How it unraveled gives us a glimpse inside the fog of war.
FROM THE VAULT

Rock 'n' Roll Legend Dick Dale on the Origins of Surf Guitar Music


By Elizabeth Deane
The Beach Boys may have surpassed Quincy-born Dick Dale in popularity, but he owns the title "King of the Surf Guitar." Learn why in this WGBH Archives video interview from the award-winning series "Rock & Roll."
WGBH News Focus: The MBTA

From the WGBH Vault: MBTA Improvements


WGBH NEWS FOCUS: THE MBTA
By WGBH News
In 1989, WGBH-2 talked to MBTA riders about recent changes. Not all the riders saw the transit system through rose-colored glasses. Try aviators, instead.
Inside the WGBH Open Vault

Mike Wallace and the Early Days of TV News


WGBH OPEN VAULT
GREATER BOSTON: MIKE WALLACE
By Ted Canova
When word of Mike Wallace's death reached WGBH News' Ted Canova, it took him back to the days when you had to get up to change the channel, to the days when TV news was still being defined.
INSIDE THE WGBH VAULT

John Updike -- The Cartoonist?


WGBH OPEN VAULT
March 18th would have been the 80th birthday of celebrated American author, John Updike. WGBH Archives shares this interview from the 1978 At Home series. 
INSIDE THE WGBH VAULT

D.I.Y. Disco: It Isn't Dead


VISIT OPEN VAULT
Pull out your platform shoes and prepare to dance. We've dusted off a gem from our video archive: Dancing Disco, a "how-to" dance show produced in 1979 by WGBH.
WGBH Special Reports

From The WGBH Vault: Trying Times


By WGBH News
Kevin White's tenure as mayor was a time of tumultuous race relations in Boston. These exclusive WGBH videos show key moments when White, who died Friday, tried to negotiate those tensions. 
WGBH Special Reports

From The WGBH Vault: Martin Luther King Jr.


By Bob Seay, Elizabeth Deane & WGBH Archives Staff
We step into WGBH's archives to glimpse a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement with exclusive interviews from three giants: Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin and Malcolm X.
Presidents

From The WGBH Vault: The New Hampshire Primary


WGBH ELECTION CENTRAL
By Bob Seay, Elizabeth Deane & WGBH Archives Staff
New Hampshire didn't always command such attention. We go into WGBH's vault for historical recordings showing the primary's rise to prominence.
WGBH 89.7 News

A Pioneering African Environmentalist's Legacy Lives On


By Bob Seay
Nobel Peace Prize-winning Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai died last month but the legacy of her mission is still alive. Maathai spoke about her life's work with WGBH back in 1990 for a series called Race to Save the Planet. Former Nova producer Linda Harrar offered this personal remembrance.
Remembrances

Remembering Steven Paul Jobs


WATCH THE WGBH STEVE JOBS 1990 INTERVIEW
By Bob Seay
We have a special remembrance of Apple's Steve Jobs in a superb WGBH interview from 1990. It's from a series called The Machine That Changed The World. In it, Jobs talks about how that revolutionary device, the Macintosh personal computer, came to be and the particular gifts of the people who made it a reality.

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