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Yesterday's News

Health Care

Posted by & filed under 1970s.

Today, as Senate Republicans unveil the latest draft of their proposed health care legislation, we are taking a look back at stories about health care. Two news stories reported by Doug Adams in 1979 echo many of the nation’s current debates and concerns over access to health care.

A news story from April 23, 1979 describes efforts by community members to set up additional health care centers in poverty stricken areas of east and south Dallas, to ameliorate the “poor health statistics” in the area. In the story, a resident describes overcrowding at Parkland Memorial, the nearest hospital. Those advocating for better health care in Dallas appear to be associated with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

[News Clip: Health Care] on The Portal to Texas History.

In this news story from February 5, 1979, Joseph A. Califano, Jr., the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Jimmy Carter, spoke to the Dallas County Democratic Forum about the need to curb inefficient hospital spending. The legislation Califano mentions in the story is H.R.2626, part of the Carter administration’s larger war on inflation. The bill failed in the House on November 15, 1979, with the Senate Finance Committee approving a revision of solely Medicare and Medicaid payments. White House Press Secretary Jody Powell described the House action as “victory for the highly financed special interest [hospital] lobby and a defeat for the common good.”

[News Clip: Califano] on The Portal to Texas History.

Sources consulted:

“House Kills Carter Hospital Cost Control Plan.” CQ Almanac 1979. 

 

Happy Independence Day!

Posted by & filed under 1980s.

We hope you are having a wonderful Independence Day!

Today we go back to July 4, 1983, when reporter Cindy Kuykendall shared a story on the 10 PM news that featured interviews with locals about their opinions on politicians that prove today’s political tensions are nothing new. The Cotton Bowl festivities and a rocking outdoor concert are also shown.

[News Clip: 4th of July] on The Portal to Texas History.

Happy Easter!

Posted by & filed under 1980s.

On April 7, 1985 children at an Easter egg hunt at the Mandalay Hotel in Irving, Texas were surprised to see the Easter bunny arriving by helicopter! The bunny caught a ride with the KXAS-TV crew on “Chopper 5” to surprise the many children in attendance. This short segment, featuring reporter Janet Wallheim, aired during the 5 pm news.

 

[News Clip: Easter Bunny] on The Portal to Texas History.

Today is the 100th Anniversary of WWI

Posted by & filed under 1950s.

On this day in 1917 the United States Congress approved a declaration of war against Germany, thereby officially entering World War I. There are no longer any living veterans of WWI, however, in 1957 reporters with WBAP attended a VFW convention in Dallas where they met L.J. Smith, a 66 year old WWI veteran who was displaying a rather unique souvenir from WWI — a doughnut.

During WWI doughnuts and coffee were distributed along the front lines to soldiers by the Salvation Army, giving rise to the nickname “doughboy” for American soldiers overseas. During one of these coffee breaks Mr. Smith decided to save one of the doughnuts, and miraculously it survived for over 38 years! In this brief film clip he displays the doughnut-artifact under a glass dome.

[News Clip: Doughboy Preserves 1918 Model Doughnut] on The Portal to Texas History.

 

 

The Worst Storm in Dallas History: The 1957 Dallas Tornado

Posted by & filed under Uncategorised.

Thank you to Special Collections student employee Greg Pierce for finding these scripts! 

Sixty years ago, On April 2, 1957, an F3 tornado laid waste to 60 blocks of west Dallas, in what was then called the “worst storm in Dallas history.” Ten people died, and over 600 people were injured. The tornado created a 21 mile path of destruction, with the hardest hit area being a residential section of Dallas near Record Crossing Road and Riverside Drive where five people lost their lives. During the storm, the tornado moved through north Oak Cliff, crossed Harry Hines Boulevard and demolished warehouses in the Brook Hollow industrial district over a course of 20 minutes.

Original broadcast scripts from the first news WBAP news broadcast to cover the storm reflect both the “breaking news” nature of the event as well as the shock of those who witnessed the storm. In describing the event, the script notes, “There wasn’t any safe place to hide. And very little time for it anyway.” The first page of the script, show below, displays handwritten annotations showing the increase in causalities as well as the locations of other tornado which were recorded in /the north Texas communities of Anna and Melissa that same day.

[News Script: Tornado], April 2, 1957 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc790177/m1/1


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Happy International Women’s Day!

Posted by & filed under 1950s, 1970s.

Today we reflect on the struggle for women’s rights as we observe International Women’s Day. We’ve chosen two items from the NBC 5/KXAS archive that reflect women’s history in the DFW region.

First, it might be hard to believe but women were not intentionally called for full-time jury service in the city of Dallas until September 5, 1955. A script in the collection details the historic moment:

 

And second, a video about a rally held in Dallas on April 1, 1978 (perhaps a not entirely auspicious date) regarding the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a proposed amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed equal rights for women. The ERA, originally written by suffragettes Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman, was first introduced to Congress in 1923 but did not pass both houses of Congress until 1972, when it was then sent to state legislatures for ratification. Texas was among one of the first states to ratify the ERA on March 30, 1972 but the ERA was never placed in the Constitution because a total of three-fourths of US States (38 out of the 50) did not ratify the amendment. There is still hope that the ERA will become part of the Constitution in the future.

[News Clip: ERA Rally] on The Portal to Texas History.

Texas Independence Day, 1955

Posted by & filed under 1950s.

Happy Texas Independence Day! Today is the 181st anniversary of the day settlers in the Mexican province of Tejas (Mexican Texas) created the Texas Republic by declaring independence from Mexico.

In honor of our state’s holiday, we invite you to re-visit this script from March 2, 1955, which details the festivities in Dallas that year, on the 119th anniversary. Actors Dorothy Malone, Dale Robertson, Allan Jones, Irene Hervey, Constance Moore, Buddy Rogers and Jon Hall were in attendance at a parade through downtown Dallas. (Links will take you to a listing of the actor’s filmography in the UNT Media Library’s catalog, available for check-out with your UNT ID.)

Hopefully someday soon we’ll be able to share the film segment that accompanies this script!

A script details the festivities in Dallas on Texas Independence Day, 1955

Footage from KXAS/NBC 5 Collection used in latest American Experience film

Posted by & filed under 1990s.

The latest American Experience film on the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the rise of the “alt-right” in America features footage from the KXAS/NBC 5 Television News Collection. Material from the KXAS/NBC 5 collection supports the film’s section on the 51-day stand-off near Waco, Texas in 1993 between Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents and the Branch Dividians religious group. The tragic outcome of what came to be known as “the Waco siege” motivated Timothy McVeigh, the perpetrator of the Oklahoma City bombing, to seek retribution against the United States government. Oklahoma City is available to watch online. Due to the subject matter, viewer discretion is advised.

A large amount of footage related to the Waco siege has been digitized and is available to view in The Portal to Texas History. A few selections are below:

[News Clip: March 1, 1993] on The Portal to Texas History.

[News Clip: Waco] on The Portal to Texas History.

[News Clip: Waco tonight] March 26, 1993 on The Portal to Texas History.

“Super Sales” for Super Bowl XII in New Orleans

Posted by & filed under 1970s.

In honor of Super Bowl LI this Sunday, we flash back to January 1978 when the Dallas Cowboys met the Denver Broncos in New Orleans for Super Bowl XII. In the first ever Super Bowl broadcast in prime time, the Cowboys defeated the Broncos 27-10. In this clip, Texas News reporter Karen Parfitt reports on the “super sales” of Dallas Cowboys merchandise in the DFW area. This story aired at 10 PM on January 12, 1978.

[News Clip: Super Sales (Super Bowl)] on The Portal to Texas History.

This video was recently transferred from the original 3/4 inch magnetic media (also called Umatic tape) that was used to record this segment. Video in the KXAS collection from 1977-1986 is particularly at risk due to the fragile nature of the Umatic format and the obsolescence of the equipment needed for playback and digitization. In this video you will see that the picture quality has significantly degraded. Although there has been loss to the image quality, we were able to successfully save this video before it was too late. As more time passes however, it will be harder and harder to recover videos like this.

January 20, 1986: The first Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Posted by & filed under 1980s.

Yesterday UNT, along with other state institutions, observed Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law on Nov. 2, 1983. Dr. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, stated upon the bill’s ratification that “This is not a black holiday; it is a people’s holiday.” Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was observed for the first time in the United States three years later on January 20, 1986. Many states, including Texas, did not initially observe the paid holiday in 1986. In fact, MLK Day was not observed by every U.S. state until the year 2000. Today some states observe the holiday under a different name (it’s known as “Human Rights Day” in Idaho and “Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Day” in Arizona and New Hampshire) or combine the holiday with memorials for confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson (Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Virginia). A recent New York Times article proves that the holiday is still contested more than thirty years after its implementation.

On January 20, 1986, KXAS reporter Ramona Logan reported on Dallas-Forth Worth residents’ reactions to the day for the 6:00 news. Some Texas employees chose to take a vacation day in honor of Dr. King, while others chose to honor his memory through their vocations. Dallas schools closed for the day but Fort Worth schools remained open.

[News Clip: MLK Closings] on The Portal to Texas History.

This footage was rescued from a “U-matic” 3/4 tape. The characteristic image and sound degradation of an aged U-matic tape is apparent in the digital copy, which highlights why this format is a major preservation priority for archivists and librarians.

Further reading:

“A Brief History of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.” Time.

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