Register of the Stanford Listening Post Records, 1940-1945
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Phone: (650) 723-3563
Fax: (650) 725-3445
Email: archives@hoover.stanford.edu
© 1999
Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved.
Register of the Stanford Listening Post Records, 1940-1945
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Contact Information
- Hoover Institution Archives
- Stanford University
- Stanford, California 94305-6010
- Phone: (650) 723-3563
- Fax: (650) 725-3445
- Email: archives@hoover.stanford.edu
© 1999 Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Stanford Listening Post Records,
Date (inclusive): 1940-1945
Collection number: 40001
Creator:
Stanford Listening Post
Collection Size:
32 manuscript boxes, 1 envelope.
13.4 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: Correspondence, transcripts of radio broadcasts, study papers, notes, and card indexes, relating to radio broadcasts from
east and southeast Asia
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
Publication Rights
For copyright status, please contact
the Hoover Institution Archives.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Stanford Listening Post Records, [Box no.], Hoover Institution
Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1940.
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
Access Points
United States. Office of War Information
Propaganda
Radio broadcasting--East Asia
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945--Propaganda
East Asia
United States
Historical Note
The Stanford Listening Post was established in the Archives Division of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace
in 1940 for the purpose of recording and studying radio broadcasts from the Far East. The Rockefeller Foundation granted $8,250
to cover the costs of equipment, supplies, and salaries for receiving, recording, and transcribing trans-Pacific broadcasts.
Recording began in mid-September 1940 and continued to the end of May 1941 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
established listening posts throughout the country for round-the-clock monitoring of foreign broadcasts. The Stanford post
recorded foreign broadcasts for the FCC from 1941 to 1943 and transmitted American broadcasts of the United States Office
of War Information (OWI) to the Far East from 1942 to 1945.
The Stanford Listening Post used two short-wave receivers, an RME 69 and a highly selective HRO. During the last few weeks
of the experiment, a Hallicrafter commercial type receiver was used in place of the RME. Two rhombic antennas provided directional
reception from east-west and north-south. Two standard office Ediphones recorded the broadcasts. Only transmissions in English
were recorded in the beginning, although test recordings of other languages were made. News and news commentator programs
in English from three stations were recorded regularly--Tokyo, Japan; Chungking, China; and Saigon, French Indo-China. Occasional
recordings were made from Hsinking, Manchukuo; Shanghai, China; and Sydney, Australia.
After broadcasts were recorded on Ediphone wax cylinders, a single typed copy was made of the transcript with text double
spaced. There were several checks for accuracy. After the final checking, transcripts were duplicated and sent to a selected
list of persons and libraries interested in Pacific affairs.
The staff of the Stanford Listening Post included Inez G. Richardson, who was director, Richard Beckett, Pauline Hamm, Maria
Hoge, Rosemary Johansson, Kay Kitagawa, Margaret Lintner, Helene von Damm, and Ann Van Wagenen.
(Source:
Annual Report of the Chairman, 1940-41. Hoover Library on War, Revolution, and Peace).
Series Description
Box Box No. 1.-2.
Card Indexes.
Scope and Content Note
Three card files consisting of a list of subscribers to the Stanford Listening Post transcripts, a reference file to general
information used by Stanford Listening Post staff, and a subject index to the Stanford Listening Post transcripts (citations
are to the Tokyo-to-America broadcasts unless otherwise stated). Each file is arranged alphabetically by subject.
Box Box No. 3.
Correspondence, 1941, 1959.
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence relating to subscription of the Stanford Listening Post transcripts, arranged chronologically.
Box Box No. 3.-14.
Transcripts of Broadcasts Received, 1940-1943.
Scope and Content Note
Transcripts of foreign broadcasts received by the Stanford Listening Post, September 1940 to May 1941, and transcripts of
foreign broadcasts received by Stanford on behalf of the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI) and the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), June 1941 to June 1943. Folders include draft translations as well as final transcripts. Arrangement is
alphabetical by transmitting city and there-under chronological. The transcripts of the Tokyo broadcasts are divided into
three groups--broadcasts intended for the Americas, broadcasts intended for Asia, and broadcasts received by Stanford on behalf
of OWI and FCC.
Box Box No. 15.-21.
Transcrips of OWI Broadcasts Transmitted, 1942-1945.
Scope and Content Note
Transcripts of broadcasts originating with the Office of War Information (OWI) and transmitted from Stanford by short-wave
radio to the Far East. Arranged alphabetically by names of the OWI news services and there-under chronologically. The OWI
news services included the
Chinese News (sometimes called the
Chinese Dialect News or
Dialect News),
Japan-Formosa News, and
Thai News.
Box Box No. 22.-29.
Project to Analyse Foreign Broadcasts Received by the Stanford Listening Post, 1940-1942.
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, drafts of study papers, outlines and plans, notes, and broadcast transcripts of a project to study and compare
the propaganda methods of China and Japan as revealed in their radio broadcasts. The final report was not completed, but the
records contain drafts of some chapters, notes and copies of Stanford Listening Post broadcast transcripts arranged by subject.
Container List
Box 1.
List of subscribers to transcripts
Subject index to transcripts (citations are to Tokyo-to-America broadcasts unless otherwise stated)
Box 2.
Reference file to information on important persons in the news, foreign words and idioms, and foreign newspapers
Correspondence, 1941, 1959.
Box 3.
Correspondence relating to subscriptions to Stanford Listening Post transcripts
Transcripts of Broadcasts Received, 1940-1943
Box 3.
Chungking, September 15, 1940-February 28, 1941
Box 4.
Chungking, March 1, 1941-May 15, 1941
Box 5.
Chungking, May 16, 1941-May 31, 1941
Chungking, March 1941-April 1941 (second copy)
Chungking, July 1941-August 1941 (OWI-FCC)
Hsinking (Manchukuo), August 1941 (OWI-FCC)
Saigon, September 15, 1940-October 15, 1940
Box 6.
Saigon, October 16, 1940-February 28, 1941
Box 7.
Saigon, March 1, 1941-May 15, 1941
Box 8.
Saigon, May 16, 1941-May 30, 1941
Saigon, August 1941 (OWI-FCC)
Sydney, February 1, 1941-May 31, 1941
Tokyo-America, September 15, 1940-September 30, 1940
Box 9.
Tokyo-America, October 1, 1940-December 31, 1940
Box 10.
Tokyo-America, January 1, 1941-March 31, 1941
Box 11.
Tokyo-America, April 1, 1941-May 30, 1941
Tokyo-Asia, September 15, 1940-November 30, 1940
Box 12.
Tokyo-Asia, December 1, 1940-May 31, 1941
Tokyo, June 1941-September 1941 (OWI-FCC)
Box 13.
Tokyo, August 1941-September 1941 (OWI-FCC)
Thailand, September 1942-February 1943 (OWI-FCC)
Box 14.
Thailand, March 1943-June 1943 (OWI-FCC)
Miscellaneous transcripts (Stanford Listening Post)
Transcripts of OWI Broadcasts Transmitted, 1942-1945
Box 15.
Chinese News,
August 1942-March 1943
Box 16.
Chinese News,
April 1943-September 1943
Box 17.
Chinese News,
October 1943-March 1944
Box 18.
Chinese News,
April 1944-September 1944
Box 19.
Chinese News,
October 1944-November 1944 and January 1945-April 1945
Box 20.
Chinese News,May 1945-August 1945 and miscellaneous broadcasts
Japan-Formosa News,
May 1945-August 1945
Box 21.
Thai News,
May 1942-June 1943
Project to Analyse Foreign Broadcasts Received by Stanford Listening Post, 1940-1942
Box 22.
Project correspondence, 1942
Project report--outlines, introduction to Chungking chapter, resume of propaganda content
Comparison of Chungking and Tokyo broadcasts
Quantitative tables comparing broadcast references to subjects
Tabulated analysis of references to leaders
Subject arrangement of transcripts, 1940-1942
French Indo-China relations
Government control of economics
Government development of economics
Shanghai, international settlement
Transportation and communications
War (Chungking broadcasts only)
French Indo-China and Thailand
Culture, education, and research
Dutch East India relations
War (Tokyo broadcasts only)
Placating American public opinion
Miscellaneous project notes
