I was working for a consortium at the time, the University of Southern MS,
MS Department of Archives & History and Tougaloo College. As I recall I was
given this item by the co-director, Dr. Stephen Sloan (now in Texas) and
asked to digitize it. It was not part of the Civil Rights recordings I was
working my way through but a new accession. I am unclear now if they had
been gifted the tape and that the original remains at USM or if it went back
to the original donor. You would need to check with the oral history unit
and the McCain Library.
I do recall a large accession of radio broadcasts accessioned at MDAH, so
they would be worth getting in touch with also. As I am back in New Zealand
and all my notes are in Mississippi it is hard for me to remember absolute
details. However, the oral history center has all my notes.
Cheers
Marie
On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 3:49 AM, Samara Freemark
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> Yes, I should have mentioned that we do have that recording - and yes,
> "chilling" is the word for it. Marie, that's interesting that you worked on
> preserving it. We were trying to track down who preserved it. Where did the
> tape come from originally? And do you (or anyone else) know if other
> archives from local radio stations in Mississippi have been preserved
> anywhere?
>
> Thanks again for all the help,
> Samara
>
> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 9:42 PM, Marie O'Connell <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > It was a live event, there was a large crowd assembled as you could hear
> > them in the background. The broadcaster refers to a boy who is up a tree
> > and had a 'good view' of Willie in the portable electric chair. I was
> > appalled to think a child would be allowed to view this event which took
> > place just after midnight. There is an explanation about why the
> execution
> > took place after midnight. After the three rather loud surges of power
> > from
> > the generator are broadcast you hear the crowd cheering.
> >
> > It was one of the saddest preservations I have done.
> >
> > Marie
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 2:32 PM, <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > In a message dated 3/15/2010 9:29:43 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> > > [log in to unmask] writes:
> > >
> > >
> > > I preserved the radio broadcast of this execution when I was working
> at
> > > the
> > > Oral History Unit of the University of Southern Mississsippi.
> > >
> > >
> > > ----------------
> > > This 1951 electrocution was actually broadcast live (in real time)?
> Isn't
> > > that a unique event?
> > >
> > > Allen
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Samara Freemark
> Radio Diaries
> http://www.radiodiaries.org/
> [log in to unmask]
>
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