Charles Harvey Crutchfield Papers
Abstract
Charles Harvey Crutchfield (1912-1998) was a mainstay at WBT (Chapel Hill, NC) for most of his career. For ten years, from 1935 to 1945, he served as the station's program director. In the early years, he was an announcer with the legendary WBT Briarhoppers, a group of country musicians who broadcast a live program daily on WBT. In 1945, he became Acting General Manager and eventually became President in 1945. Mr. Crutchfield retired in 1977 after 44 years with the Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting Company. The collection consists of correspondence, speeches, articles, an oral history, videos and other material documenting Crutchfield's career as well as the history of WBT.
Important Information for Users of the Collection
The collection is open for research use. Use of audio and video recordings may require production of listening or viewing copies.
Charles Harvey Crutchfield Papers, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries.
Photocopies of original materials may be provided for a fee and at the discretion of the curator. Please see our Fees page for more information. Queries regarding publication rights and copyright status of materials within this collection should be directed to the appropriate curator.
This collection is PROCESSED.
Historical Note
Charles Harvey Crutchfield (1912-1998) had a long career at WBT (Chapel Hill, NC) including serving as announcer with the WBT Briarhoppers; program director, WBT (1935-1945); Acting General Manager (1945-1963); President (1963-1977).
Charles Harvey Crutchfield (1912-1998) was born in Hope, Arkansas, on July 27, 1912. After attending public schools in Spartanburg, South Carolina, he matriculated at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina for one year, 1929-1930. His first job in radio was at WSPA in Spartanburg, South Carolina. From 1929 to 1933 he was an announcer and program director for various North and South Carolina radio stations, ending up at Radio WBT in North Carolina from 1933-1935. For ten years, 1935-1945, he was Program Director. In the early years he was an announcer with the legendary WBT Briarhoppers, a group of country musicians who broadcast a live program daily on WBT. He was appointed Acting General Manager at WBT in 1945 and subsequently stayed on and became President in 1963. Mr. Crutchfield retired in 1977 after 44 years with the Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting Company.
Mr. Crutchfield was involved in many other professional activities including a U. S. State Department appointment for a Special Mission to Greece in 1951. In 1956 he was one of forty-eight businessmen representing the broadcast industry touring the former Soviet Union. In 1962 he visited Radio Free Europe operations in Munich, Germany as part of the Radio Free Europe 1963 Fund Drive, of which he was North Carolina Vice Chairman. He was a presidential appointed member of the National Commission on World Population from 1974 to 1975 and served as chairman of the communications Committee for that organization. He also served as secretary-treasurer for the CBS-TV Network Affiliates Advisory Board in 1973.
Mr. Crutchfield was married to wife Jacquelin for 66 years, and had two children, a son, Richard, and a daughter, Leslie.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Charles Harvey Crutchfield Papers span the years 1936 to 1999, with the bulk of the material dated 1972. The collection contains correspondence, speeches and articles written by Mr. Crutchfield, files from the Jefferson Standard/Jefferson Pilot Broadcasting Company, and materials from other organizations Mr. Crutchfield was affiliated with. Additional material include an oral history transcript and video tapes covering Mr. Crutchfield's death and WBTV's 50th anniversary
Custodial History and Acquisition Information
Charles H. Crutchfield donated his papers to the Library of American Broadcasting in January 1978. In March 2000, David Eades of WBT (Charlotte, NC) donated additional material relating to Charles Crutchfield.
Processing Information
Processed by Karen J. Fishman, June 1997. Revised by Karen J. Fishman, March 2000
Materials were placed in acid-free folders and then stored in acid-free boxes.
EAD markup created using EAD database in Microsoft Access. Markup completed by Karen E. King, January 2009
Arrangement of Collection
The collection is organized as four series:
Detailed Description of the Collection
Series 1: Jefferson Pilot/Jefferson Standard Broadcasting Company, 1945-1975 (1.50 linear feet)
This series contains a variety of materials documenting Mr. Crutchfield's career in the field of broadcasting but is woefully incomplete. The researcher will find correspondence congratulating Mr. Crutchfield on his promotion to Manager of WBT and as President of Jefferson Pilot Broadcasting Company 18 years later, but there is very little material on Mr. Crutchfield's day to day management of the company. Included in this series are speeches and articles Mr. Crutchfield wrote, an accounting report from 1972, staff memos, requisition forms, and other company documents.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Correspondence -- Congratulations, Manager WBT, 1945 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 1 | |
| Correspondence -- Congratulations, President, 1963 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 2 | |
| Correspondence -- 30th anniversary, 1963 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 3 | |
| Correspondence -- - James T. Broyhill (Rep.), 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 4 | |
| Fulfillment Week, April 11-16, 1955 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 5 | |
| General Gigantes visit, 1952 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 6 | |
| Staff Memos -- CHC, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 7 | |
| Staff Memos -- general, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 8 | |
| Jefferson Productions, 1971-1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 9 | |
| Editorials, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 10 | |
| Editorials, 1972, 1975 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 11 | |
| Editorial Board, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 12 | |
| Requisitions, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 13 | |
| Speeches/Articles, 1968-1975 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 14 | |
| Jefferson Pilot -- Board of Directors, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 15 | |
| Jefferson Pilot, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 16 | |
| Jefferson Carolina Corporation, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 17 | |
| Clippings -- Miscellaneous, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 18 | |
| Wilmington Complaint to FCC -- Exhibits, 1955 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 19 | |
| Wilmington Complaint to FCC, 1955 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 20 | |
| Kirkland, Ellis, Hodson, Chaffetz, Masters & Rowe, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 21 | |
| WBTV Black Advisory Council, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 22 | |
| JSBC Foundation, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 23 | |
| JSBC Strategic Plan, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 24 | |
| License Renewal, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 25 | |
| Mortgage Loans, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 26 | |
| A. M. Pullen Company Accounting Report, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 27 | |
| Market Research, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 28 | |
| Broadcasting Bills, 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 29 | |
| Videorecord Corp., 1972 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 30 | |
Series 2: International Broadcasting, 1951-1962 (1.00 linear foot)
This series contains correspondence, annotated photographs, negatives, postcards, periodicals, and reports from Mr. Crutchfield's numerous activities in world wide broadcasting. Correspondence dates from Mr. Crutchfield's assignment to Greece for the U. S. State Department, his correspondence and reports from his trip to Moscow in 1956, and his trip to Munich, Germany for the Radio Free Europe Inspection Tour in 1962. The photographs (71) are also from trip to Munich in 1962.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Correspondence, State Department Assignment, 1951 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 1 | |
| Greece-State Department, 1951 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 2 | |
| Greece-State Department, 1952 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 3 | |
| Greece-State Department, 1952 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 4 | |
| Greece-State Department, 1953 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 5 | |
| Radio Advisory Committee, 1956 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 6 | |
| Correspondence, Moscow Trip, 1956 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 7 | |
| Correspondence, Moscow Trip, 1953 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 8 | |
| Reports, Moscow Trip, 1953 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 9 | |
| News From Behind the Iron Curtain, 1953 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 10 | |
| Free Europe Press, 1962 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 11 | |
| Radio Free Europe Inspection Trip -- Photographs, 1962 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 12 | |
| Radio Free Europe Inspection Trip -- Miscellaneous, 1962 | series 2 | box 2 | folder 13 | |
Series 3: Miscellaneous, 1972 (0.50 linear foot)
Mr. Crutchfield was involved in many organizations not specific to broadcasting. This series contains materials, dated 1972, from these organizations and includes newsletters, correspondence, memos and reports. Organizations Mr. Crutchfield was involved with include The Heineman Foundation, The Newcomen Society, The Billy Graham Crusade and the North Carolina Council on Crime and Delinquency.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Kiplinger Letter, 1972 | series 3 | box 3 | folder 1 | |
| The Heinman Foundation, 1972 | series 3 | box 3 | folder 2 | |
| The Newcomen Society, 1972 | series 3 | box 3 | folder 3 | |
| North Carolina Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1972 | series 3 | box 3 | folder 4 | |
| The Billy Graham Crusade, 1972 | series 3 | box 3 | folder 5 | |
| CBS (general), 1972 | series 3 | box 3 | folder 6 | |
| Maximum Service Telecasters, 1972 | series 3 | box 3 | folder 7 | |
Series 4: WBTV and WBT, 1936-1999, and undated (0.50 linear foot)
This series consists of speeches, correspondence, memos, a transcript of an oral history and other materials relating to Mr. Crutchfield's career and the history of WBT.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interview with Charles Crutchfield, 1986 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 8 | |
| Radio Moscow, circa 1961 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 9 | |
| Correspondence, 1936-1996 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 10 | |
| Speech to NAB Convention, 1972 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 11 | |
| Commencement address to Appalachian State University, 1973 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 12 | |
| Speech -- Major Regulatory Problems of Broadcasting Industry, 1974-1975 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 13 | |
| Speech -- Broadcasting and Changing World of Communications, 1976 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 14 | |
| Speech -- Broadcast News: Part, Present and Future, 1977 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 15 | |
| Article -- Charles H. Crutchfield, the Father of WBTV, North Carolina, 1975 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 16 | |
| Article -- Charles Crutchfield, Carolina Living, 1977 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 17 | |
| Article -- Retired Pres. Charles Crutchfield Dies, The Jeffcaster, 1998 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 18 | |
| Miscellaneous Articles, 1949-1983, and undated | series 4 | box 3 | folder 19 | |
| Appalachian State University, 1973, 1979, 1989 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 20 | |
| Kolor-Back (Humor Briarhopper), undated | series 4 | box 3 | folder 21 | |
| The Charlotte Country Music Story, undated | series 4 | box 3 | folder 22 | |
| WBT 70th Anniversary, undated | series 4 | box 3 | folder 23 | |
| The History of WBTV-First in the Carolinas, Vol. 1, 1999 | series 4 | box 3 | folder 24 | |
Related Material
A collection of Charles Harvey Crutchfield Papers spanning 1942-2000 is located at the Manuscripts Department, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For other related archival and manuscript collections, please see the following subject guides.
Separated Material
Doug Mayes interviewed Charles Harvey Crutchfield on December 21, 1977. This oral history (au 968 rl orig) is stored with other audio holdings of the Library of American Broadcasting. Video tapes are stored with the LAB Film and Video collection.
Selected Search Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the University of Maryland Libraries' Catalog. Researchers desiring related materials about these topics, names, or places may search the Catalog using these headings.
Subjects
- Crutchfield, Charles Harvey, 1912-1998 -- Archives.
- Radio broadcasting -- Archival resources.
- WBT (Radio station : Charlotte, N.C.) -- Archives.