The Standard School Broadcast

The Standard School Broadcast began airing in 1928 under the sponsorship of Standard Oil of California, making it one of the earliest educational radio programs. The program was dedicated to music appreciation and included lessons music as drama, classical and non-classical music, basic music theory, Jazz, introduction to folk music, as well as profiles of great composers and musicians. Guests included soprano Dorothy Warenskjold and Louis Armstrong.

Seventy-two schools are known to have tuned into the broadcast when it first aired over the NBC Pacific network. NBC eventually dropped the program in the early 1950s, but Standard had it produced in syndication to keep it on the air. The program was awarded a Peabody Institutional Award in 1975, however, by this time it was becoming more difficult to find radio stations to carry the program. Recordings were edited from the broadcast material and made available, free of charge, to elementary and junior high schools throughout the West.

For other school broadcasts, see also: Minnesota School of the Air, Indiana School of the Sky, and Your Story Parade (Texas School of the Air). 

Other related collections include Teachers and Educators in Old Time Radio Collection and Graduates, Graduations, and Commencements Collection.