WDBS was Duke University's campus radio station from 1950-1983. It initially broadcast on AM by carrier current, a system in which radio signals were fed into the university's electrical system. In 1971, WDBS began broadcasting on FM 107.1 as a commercial, non-profit station. AM broadcasts ceased in the early 1970s. WDBS was sold in 1983 to repay debts the station owed Duke University. Collection includes annual reports, correspondence, proposals, newspaper clippings, advertising, program guides, record company photographs and press releases, and other materials related to the operation of WDBS. There are also reel-to-reel sound recordings of broadcasts from the 1960s and 1970s, including speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stokeley Carmichael, Douglas Knight, Samuel Dubois Cook, Charles Goodell, Robert Shelton, Spiro Agnew, Julian Bond, Birch Bayh, William Kunstler, Floyd McKissick, Richard Kleindienst, and Terry Sanford. News events and other subjects represented on tape include the 1968 Vigil, the 1969 takeover of the Allen Building by the Afro-American Society, racial unrest in Durham, anti-war activism, the 1971 USA Pan-Africa track meet, the 1972 Republican National Convention, the dedication of the William R. Perkins Library, and the Duke Symposium. Musical recordings include an organ recital, the Concert Band, and the Glee Club. English.
Collection includes annual reports, correspondence, proposals, newspaper clippings, advertising, program guides, record company photographs and press releases, and other materials related to the operation of WDBS. There are also reel-to-reel sound recordings of broadcasts from the 1960s and 1970s, including speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stokeley Carmichael, Douglas Knight, Samuel Dubois Cook, Charles Goodell, Robert Shelton, Spiro Agnew, Julian Bond, Birch Bayh, William Kunstler, Floyd McKissick, Richard Kleindienst, and Terry Sanford. News events and other subjects represented on tape include the 1968 Vigil, the 1969 takeover of the Allen Building by the Afro-American Society, racial unrest in Durham, anti-war activism, the 1971 USA Pan-Africa track meet, the 1972 Republican National Convention, the dedication of the William R. Perkins Library, and the Duke Symposium. Musical recordings include an organ recital, the Concert Band, and the Glee Club.