WBAR Radio Records

Collection

Identifier: BC37-07

Staff View

Scope and Content Summary

Most of the materials represented are from the late 1990s to mid 2010s. The records include training documents; foundational documents, such as a club charter and constitution; administrative materials like meeting minutes, agendas, event budgets and event planning, programming notes, alum rosters; and event ephemera, such as posters, photography, flyers, and invitations.

This collection also contains hundreds of photographs from WBAR events such as WBAR-B-Q, Winter Formal, and miscellaneous events. Included with the photographs are also minidiscs and computer disks (CDs). All the photographs on the computer disks have been transferred off and are noted as digital objects within subseries 2.3 Digitized Images.

Series 1: Administrative Materials, 1993-2023, undated contains materials related to the administration of WBAR Radio including correspondence, various meeting minutes and agendas, operational documents training DJs how to work the radio station equipment, and foundational documents like the club charter and club constitution.

Series 2: Event materials, event ephemera, and photographs, 1993-2010s, undated contains event-related materials like posters, fliers, invitations, photographs, and ephemera about WBAR-sponsored events. Some of the recurring events include the WBAR-B-Q and Winter Formal.

Dates

Creation: 1992 - 2023

Creator

WBAR. Barnard College Radio (Organization)

Access

This collection has no restrictions.

Publication Rights

Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Barnard Archives and Special Collections. The Barnard Archives and Special Collections approves permission to publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Reproductions Restrictions

Photocopies or scans may be made for research purposes.

Historical Summary

WBAR Barnard College Radio (WBAR) was established in 1993 by Jen Small ‘93, Heather Willihnganz ‘92, and Susan Leff ’92. At the time of their proposal to the Student Government Association (SGA) in 1991, Barnard College was the only one of the Seven Siblings without its own radio station. WBAR is a non-profit, non-commercial radio station which serves the Barnard College and Columbia University community.

According to their own website, “WBAR staff members get trained in the basics of broadcasting, music programming, event planning, and are encouraged to explore diverse music tastes which reflect the DJ’s differing opinions and backgrounds. WBAR’s commitment to a multiplicity of viewpoints and opinions is the heart of WBAR''(WBAR website, February 2024).

In October 1993, WBAR originally broadcasted to only Barnard and Columbia students from the McIntosh building using existing AM cables because the buildings were not properly wired to carry the station yet. Students would dial AM frequency 640 to listen within their dorms. By April 1993, WBAR officially went live on FM radio channel 87.9, where Barnard students could listen in their dorms. In 1998, WBAR acquired AM frequency 160 in addition to its FM channel to widen their audience. By 1999, WBAR was broadcasting online, widening its reach internationally. Since around 2007, WBAR left FM radio and broadcasts exclusively online which is why they are not regulated by the FCC. According to their own website, WBAR currently has 77 shows and around 100 DJs who broadcast online 22 hours a day without limits on what they can play (WBAR website, March 2024). Some of WBAR’s major events include WBAR-B-Q, an annual spring outdoor concert, and the Winter Formal concert, which happens every December.

Extent

17.30 Linear Feet (1 document box, 1 half document box, 3 custom sized boxes, 1 photo binder. 4 oversized flat file folders)

0.18 Gigabytes (158 files docx, xlx, jpg, and pdf files)

Language

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection consists of materials from WBAR, the Barnard College radio station.

Collection Arrangement

Some high-level physical rearrangement happened to allow the digital materials to be easily integrated into a single system of arrangement. The digital materials, at the highest directory level, were placed into a new folder with a new file name.

Series 1: Administrative Materials, 1993-2023, undated, is further arranged into subseries that the archivist provided to reflect the record types. It is organized by record type for paper, analog, and digital files. This series contains born digital materials.

1.1 Correspondence, 1998-2023, undated
1.2 Meeting minutes and research files, 1992-2023, undated
1.3 Operational documents and technical guides, 1999-2023, undated

Series 2: Event materials, event ephemera, and photographs, 1993-2023, undated, is further arranged into subseries that the archivist provided to reflect the record types. It is organized by record type for paper and digital files. This series contains born digital materials.
2.1 Fliers, invitations, and posters, 2005-2023, undated
2.2 Event ephemera, 2016 and undated
2.3 Photographs, circa. 1990s-2010s, undated

Physical Location

This collection is located in the Barnard Archives and Special Collections, Barnard Library. To use this collection, please contact the Barnard Archives and Special Collections at 212.854.4079 or archives@barnard.edu.

Acquisition Information

The majority of the collection was transferred to the Barnard Archives in 2023 by WBAR historian Skylar Nieman.

Accruals

Additions are expected.

Related Collections

Related materials are included in BC 17, Photographs, in boxes 82, 83, and 84. Selections from these boxes may be digitized and available through our Digital Collections, digitalcollections.barnard.edu.

Related materials are included in BC12.40, WBAR Zine. You can request to view them in the Barnard Archives and Special Collections. https://collections.barnard.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/451

Processing History

This collection was processed and the finding aid written by Charlotte Kostelic in November 2015. Significant descriptive changes and large 2023-2024 accurals processed by Olivia Newsome in February 2024.

Finding aid adheres to that prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content Standard. Machine readable finding aid encoded in EAD 2002. Finding aid written in English.