Scope and Content Note
This finding aid documents the National Broadcasting Company History Files which is one of the eleven collections that comprise the NBC Archives at the Library of Congress. The NBC Archives document the history of the organization and its broadcast programming, and the history of the radio and television industries. The eleven collections within the NBC Archives at the Library of Congress include: organizational records of NBC, and the radio stations WEAF and WJZ; indexes to radio and television programming and artists; log books of broadcasts; sound recordings of radio broadcasts; and kinescopes of television broadcasts.
The NBC History Files contain business publications: letters, memoranda, employee reminiscences, printed publications, printed memorabilia (such as anniversary programs), network histories, reports, audience mail, statistics, charts, maps, speeches, program policies, program lists and pamphlets. The materials span 1922 through 1986, but most date from the mid-1920s through the late 1940s. For further summary information and analysis of the content of the NBC History Files, see Kathleen B. Miller’s article, "A Tale of Two Networks."
The NBC History Files comprise 1966 folders. Each folder contains one or more individual typescript, printed or manuscript documents.
The folders in the NBC History Files are organized by the folder name assigned by NBC. The folder name is usually a topic, genre (e.g., speeches), or name of the issuing body of the contents of the folder. The Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division created this finding aid as an index to the folder names, which includes a detailed description of the contents of each folder. The folders have been assigned numbers which correspond to their physical order.