Founder Lewis Hill's mission was to create a new kind of radio, supported by listeners, owing nothing to sponsors, providing an outlet for creative expression, and a safe haven for artistic experiments with the radio medium. Predating National Public Radio, and beginning with KPFA-FM in Berkeley, CA, the network added four stations (in New York City, Washington D.C., Houston and Los Angeles), over the next 28 years. Perhaps best known as a chronicler of social justice movements and cultural change, the Pacifica stations have consistently embraced the performing and literary arts, offering sometimes the only forum for cutting edge and classical arts, and providing a stage to experiment with radio drama, spoken word, sound sculpture and the art of radio documentary.
Below we present some milestones from Pacifica's broadcast history.
May in Pacifica History
May 1, 1997: Pacifica station KPFK records Cherrie Moraga, lesbian Latina poet, at California State University, Long Beach. [Archive # KZ2692]
May 2, 1970: Pacifica station KPFT antenna is bombed off the air, Houston, Texas. A second bombing took place October 6 the same year.
May 3, 1990: Part One of a program series on the state of human rights in the United States is broadcast by Pacifica station WBAI. [Archive # IZ0491.01]
May 4, 1970: Kent State University shooting occured when National Guardsmen used live ammunition to disperse student demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Later, Pacifica Radio broadcast a documentary on the event. [Archive # BC0015]
May 5, 1987: Larry Bensky and Pacifica begin gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Iran-Contra Congressional hearings.
May 6, 1986: Mike Hodel, Pacifica station KPFK's Hour 25 programmer, dies.
May 7, 1963: Elsa Knight Thompson and John Leonard interview James Baldwin for Pacifica station KPFA. [Archive # BB0632]
May 8, 1962: An experimental audio view of New York City is broadcast by Pacifica station WBAI. [Archive # BB3606]
May 9, 1992: Decline of Democracy in the U.S. speech by consumer advocate Ralph Nader is broadcast by Pacifica station KPFA. [Archive # AZ0964]
May 10, 1992: Pacifica station KPFK records interview with William Greider, journalist and author of Who Will Tell the People, about betrayal of the democractic ideals in the United States. [Archive # KZ1900]
May 11, 1978: Roy Tuckman interview with Count John Manolesco about astrology in World War II broadcast on Pacifica station KPFK. [Archive # KZ0525]
May 12, 1959: Pacifica station KPFA records lecture on the final U.S. Constitutional compromise that defines the relationship between the executive and judicial branches of government. [Archive # BB0041.03]
May 13, 1960: ("Black Friday") Pacifica station KPFA begins recording House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings in San Francisco. [Archive # BB0148.02]
May 14, 1994: Pacifica station KPFK records interview with a gay Universalist minister about the radical religious right's attacks on gay and lesbian rights. [Archive # KZ2064]
May 15, 1970: Pacifica station WBAI broadcasts accounts of two witnesses to the shootings at Jackson State University in Mississippi of students protesting the Vietnam War. [Archive # BB4286]
May 16, 1992: Following riots in Los Angeles, interview with Latino community group "Culture Clash" is broadcast by Pacifica station KPFK. [Archive # KZ1848]
May 17, 1967: Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech about the immoral consequence of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam is broadcast by Pacifica station KPFA. [Archive # BB1195]
May 18, 1958: Panel discussion on the next 100 years of industrial society is recorded by Pacifica station KPFA. [Archive # BB0173]
May 19, 1968: Panel discussion about black leader Malcolm X is broadcast by Pacifica station KPFK. [Archive # BB4501]
May 20, 1992: Los Angeles education and inter-cultural communications series first broadcast by Pacifica station KPFK. [Archive # KZ1830.01]
May 21, 1965: Talk on the Vietnam War by Dr. Benjamin Spock is recorded by Pacifica station KPFA for later broadcast. [Archive # BB2218.21].
May 22, 1972: Talk at a science fiction conference by author Theodore Sturgeon is broadcast by Pacifica station WBAI. [Archive # BB5346]
May 23, 1989: Political commentator Jim Hightower's speech before Americans for Democratic Action is recorded by Pacifica Radio for later broadcast. [Archive # KZ1539]
May 24, 1962: Examination of methods for gaining world peace are broadcast by Pacifica station WBAI. [Archive # BB3045]
May 25, 1963: Author Nelson Algren discusses and reads from his works on a broadcast by Pacifica station WBAI. [Archive # BB3363]
May 26, 1971: Malvina Reynolds, folk singer and songwriter, talks and sings about the threat to man from his own products. Broadcast by Pacifica station KPFA. [Archive # BB4223]
May 27, 1981: Documentary on the effects of nutrition on the human brain is broadcast by Pacifica station KPFA. [Archive # AZ0558]
May 28, 1953: Pacifica station KPFA receives the first Pacifica station license.
May 29, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. speech about the possibilities of peace is broadcast by Pacifica station KPFA. [Archive # BB5488]
May 30, 1984: Tony Avingan is injured in the La Panca press conference bombing in Central America, touching off an investigation into CIA involvement by his wife, American journalist Martha Honey. [Archive # IZ0644]
May 31, 1974: Weather Underground message broadcast by Pacifica station KPFK, Los Angeles, leads to a police raid on the station and arrest of the station manager. [Archive # BB4638a]
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