Minnesota Public Radio was founded in 1967 by Bill Kling and Colman Barry, president of St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn. After the first station, KSJR 90.1-FM, went on the air, Kling began building a statewide network. Here's a sampling of some early recordings found in the MPR Archive.
July 3, 1974 - Eugene McCarthy speaks on Richard Nixon, Watergate, and politics. Following speech is a Q&A with audience.
July 15, 1974 - An interview with Stanley Kiesel, Minneapolis Public Schools' Poet-in-Residence, about inspiring children and introducing them to poetry.
July 15, 1974 - MPR’s Tom Stewart explores Sauk Centre in this audio montage, as the town celebrates Sinclair Lewis Days in honor of the hometown author’s contributions to American literature and his 1930 Nobel Prize for Literature (the first American writer to receive award).
August 4, 1974 - MPR’s Steve Monroe reports on Poetry Out Loud caravan in Minnesota. Caroline Vogel and poets from around the state speak to the strength of the poetry communities in Minnesota.
September 7, 1974 - Sigurd Olson, environmentalist and author, speaking at the University of Minnesota-Duluth summer commencement. Topic of speech is on the ‘wilderness challenge.’
November 21, 1974 - MPR’s Dick Daly reports on protest in downtown Minneapolis over handicap inaccessible skyways.
February 23, 1975 - MPR’s Bob Potter presents a program on a book collection of local poets titled The Broken Glass Factory.
March 25, 1975 - An interview with writer Pierre Delattre speaking about the Beat Poetry community in California.
March 26, 1975 - MPR’s Bill Siemering interviews futurist Alvin Toffler, author of "Future Shock" and "Ego Spasm," about current social and political issues and offers his view about what might happen in the future.
July 21, 1975 - John C. Rezmerski, a local poet and storyteller, comments on poetry readings as part of Minnesota Poetry Out Loud.