The first broadcasts of the Radio Club consisted of sending transmissions in Morse code and streaming phonograph records, and soon after it began broadcasting campus events such as athletic games and dances. Call letters were changed to W2XBN for a few years and changed to W2GSB in 1932.(11) The Radio Club engaged in famous historic events, such as, on May 6, 1921, a live broadcast from an antenna rigged up to a baby carriage and wheeled through downtown Schenectady. This was quite possibly the world’s first portable broadcast receiver.(12)
To celebrate the 101st anniversary of WRUC, we offer this exhibit highlighting the importance of Union College’s radio history. This was the first radio station in New York State and one of the earliest in the nation. We hope you are inspired to tune in at 89.7 FM.
On October 14, 1920, a radio broadcast came from Union College via “wireless telephone,” as reported in the Schenectady Gazette. This was the first broadcast for public entertainment in the United States.(1) The development of radio at Union College can be attributed to many individuals, many of whom worked for General Electric and cooperated with students and faculty on campus. As it developed, it encountered frequent interruptions and changes.
By the 1960s, the station sorely needed a technical overhaul. WRUC hoped to become an FM station, however, such a system required the approval of both the FCC and Union’s Board of Trustees. In 1963, the Board of Trustees denied the station’s proposal to become an FM station.(24)
The Radio Workshop was formed in 1939. With the advent of carrier current, a broadcasting technique which uses low-power transmissions over a select geographic range, David Borst helped establish the first broadcast on September 22, 1941. This became known as the Union Broadcasting System which sent broadcasts via an electrical power line running from the Electrical Engineering Building to North College.(18) The success of the broadcast helped unify all the radio groups on campus and in March 1942, they were combined to form the Union College Radio Society (UCRS).(19)