This soaring tower in Northwest Washington, but a few miles from the White House, rising
459 feet above the ground to become the highest structure above sea level in the nation's
capital, proclaims the presence of NBC's newest color television and radio center, at whose
dedication we invite you now to join with the President of the United States.
Good afternoon.
This is Stuart Finley speaking to you from a ramp overlooking our huge new Studio A,
huge enough almost to accommodate a basketball game.
Here gathered below are hundreds of honored guests, cabinet secretaries, members of the
Supreme Court, members of Congress, to await the arrival at any moment of President Dwight
D. Eisenhower, who will formally inaugurate this most modern communications facility in
the nation.
Let us move now to where the action will begin, outside the entrance of this new building,
to Ray Scherrer, NBC's White House correspondent, standing by to describe the arrival of the
presidential party.
The President's car has just turned in our spruce-lined lane, coming in from Nebraska
Avenue.
Car with the flags, first car in the procession.
Running the turn.
Secret Service cars, newsmen behind him.
Perfect day for this, temperature about 80, bright sun.
You see the presidential flag on one fender.
President riding in the back with two men, Robert Montgomery and Jim Hagerty.
Presidents being greeted by Carlton Smith, general manager of WRC, and by Robert Sarnoff,
president of the National Broadcasting Company.
Robert Montgomery, the president's TV advisor.
Jim Hagerty being greeted by Mr. Sarnoff.
They come inside, the president looks up.
The president has expressed a desire to see the technical facilities inside.
He will be taken below by Mr. Smith and Mr. Sarnoff, and then come up to Studio A for
the dedicatory ceremonies.
Meanwhile, a great number of dignitaries have arrived there.
For that story, to David Brinkley.
Good afternoon.
We are all here, installed in our beautiful new building in Washington, equipped as it
is with everything from the newest color television equipment down to and including the very latest
and potted poems.
Not to mention our new white flagpole out front, flying a flag recently to come from
the dome of the US Capitol.
While the president is looking over the electronic marvels in the technical center downstairs,
escorted around by Mr. Sarnoff and Mr. Smith, our other guests are seated here in Studio
A. In a short time, the president will appear here and will speak.
Among the guests already in their places on the left is Associate Justice Tom Clark of
the Supreme Court of the United States.
Sitting beside him, Brigadier General David Sarnoff, Chairman of the Board of the Radio
Corporation of America.
In addition to being the Washington headquarters of the NBC network, these of course also are
local television and radio stations here in Washington, and if I may say so, have a long
and honorable history of serving the public here.
It's one of the oldest radio stations in the country.
In 1923, it got off to a rather shaky start with an inaugural broadcast from a room rented
upstairs over a bank.
The microphones, we've been looking over some history of our broadcasting activities since
it started.
This is the front row of the guests seated in the studio facing the rostrum where the
president, Mr. Sarnoff and General Sarnoff, in a few minutes will appear and will speak.
The station now is over 30 years old.
As we say, it got off to a shaky start.
The microphones in the early days in this business looked like big black shoeboxes and
the announcer on the inaugural broadcast talked into the wrong side of it.
Since then, with a good deal of work, we have managed to improve both the microphones and
the announcer.
Secretary of Agriculture Benson, one of the guests seated here on the rostrum.
John J. Burns, the president of RCA beside him, Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield
seated there too.
The chair, the empty chair is left for the president and Mr. Smith and Mr. Sarnoff who
will be here shortly.
The television station here is one of the older ones too.
In 39, it put on the first demonstration of television in Washington, an interview with
some congressional leaders.
The speaker of the house then was William Bankhead of Alabama who was asked what he
thought it might be like when the sessions of Congress began to be broadcast.
And he said, well, some of them might have to take their feet off the desks and straighten
up a bit.
But this has turned out to be academic because Congress never has allowed its sessions, its
regular sessions to be put on television.
The technical center where the president and Mr. Smith and Mr. Sarnoff are exploring at
the moment is one floor beneath here.
That is the point where from where the broadcasting in this studio and in the two others adjoining
it are all controlled.
The outside, there's our flagpole and the flag I mentioned which we got from the U.S.
Capitol after it had flown over the east front of the Capitol for a time.
The president's punctuality today as always was remarkable.
He was here within about 15 seconds of the time he said he would be.
He usually is at his press conferences.
He always arrives within a few seconds of when he says he will be there.
When this WRC-TV television station first began in Washington about 10 years ago, there
were only 700 sets in town.
And those of us who were on the air here at the time found the audience enthusiastic out
of all proportion to its size.
It seemed that every time we did a program unusually good or unusually bad, which is
more likely, it seemed all 700 phoned right away and gave us their comments.
Just the cornerstone of the building laid about a year ago with Vice President Nixon
there putting on some cement and as you can see it has held in place extremely well for
this year.
This land here at one time was a part of the estate of William C. Whitney, the Secretary
of the Navy under Grover Cleveland.
General Ulysses S. Grant at one time we are told tried to buy the land for his own home,
but he found the price to be excessive and said he would not buy it, he would not be
robbed.
The Secret Service men who accompany the president are waiting outside alongside of his car.
Before he came here, as in fact before he goes anywhere, the Secret Service goes along
ahead and surveys the place as they call it to see that it's safe and that the preparations
for the president's reception are proper and that everything has been provided for.
And if they find it to be not to their liking, the president just doesn't go.
Some hotels in town he can go into and some hotels he can't depending on the physical
facilities for providing for his safety and otherwise.
This building here is approximately four miles or so from the White House.
The president drove here in his limousine as you saw and with the flags flying from
the fenders it makes a very striking and exciting sight.
Some of the many firsts we have found in looking over the history of these stations, the first
program schedule published by WRC promised to deliver to an eager public fashion talks,
financial news, current events, concerts, bedtime stories for children, and instructions
in Pung Chow.
What Pung Chow is or was we do not know and even with the most exhaustive research have
been unable to learn.
But whatever it was, we had it.
The studio equipment, high fidelity or hi-fi music has become as of course you know extraordinarily
popular of late and in designing the equipment here I am told that everything has been made
to meet the most exacting hi-fi standards.
And if you know hi-fi addicts, these standards are pretty exacting.
WRC broadcast the 1924 political conventions among many other things and during its long
years.
The year when Alabama day after day cast 24 votes for Oscar W. Underwood as some of you
may remember and this got to be so interesting to Herbert Hoover that he sent over to WRC
and asked if we or they would lend him a radio so he could listen.
We did and he did.
The president, Ruffles and Clark.
Mr. President, Mr. Sernoff, president of NBC and Mr. Smith, the vice president and general
manager of the two stations here have just come in from their exploration trip down state.
Now down to the platform.
Mr. President, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, to each and every one of you
it gives me great pleasure to extend in behalf of WRC TV and WRC our warmest welcome.
We are honored that you have joined with us this afternoon in inaugurating our new broadcasting
center.
An event of such consequence to ourselves and the community is best consummated in the
presence of friends.
And your being here reflects the sentiments we have always held concerning our role in
the nation's capital.
Like yourselves, we consider ourselves an integral part of the capital family.
And just as the District of Columbia is the home of our government, it is as we are dedicated
to the service of the country as a whole.
So are we uniquely privileged.
As the Washington outlet of the network of stations that comprise the National Broadcasting
Company, we too have a larger obligation, an obligation to the community of states that
is the United States.
All routes in Washington go back as far as 1923 when many persons listened to WRC through
earphones attached to crystal sets.
From that simple beginning in a single studio to this moment of dedication of a modern,
efficient, multipurpose color television and radio facility, we have been guided by one
principle, devotion to the service of our country and its people.
If what is past is prologue, we expect the years ahead to be filled with exciting opportunities
to serve you, whether as a member of our Washington area audience or of our national audience.
I should now like to present to you the president of the National Broadcasting Company whose
personal interest has helped immeasurably to bring this dedication day to such happy
fulfillment, Mr. Robert W. Sarnoff.
Mr. President, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, during the past 10 years, the
NBC cameras in Washington have focused upon many of the individuals in our audience, but
seldom have we been able with a single sweep of the lens to show America so many of the
faces of the men who govern it.
The presence here of so many ranking members of the government is a persuasive reminder
of our role in interpreting the Washington scene to the 97 percent of Americans within
reach of our sight or sound signals.
With the superb facilities available in this new station, it is a role we hope to fulfill
with increasing skill in the future.
In the brief history of American broadcasting, our chief executives have contributed many
important chapter headings.
President Wilson was the first to test radio when returning from the Versailles Peace Conference,
President Harding the first to speak over a network of three stations, President Coolidge
the first to broadcast from the White House, and President Roosevelt the first to use the
technique of the fireside chat.
And you, Mr. President, have added many significant firsts to our history in opening up your news
conferences to radio and television coverage, in permitting our cameras the freedom of the
White House.
You have enabled us to give the public an understanding of your high office and its
occupant that is unparalleled in American history.
Through your presence here today, you are contributing to another broadcasting milestone.
The cameras you see before you are color cameras.
They are now transmitting a black and white picture.
By pressing this button, which I now do, the cameras are transmitting a live color picture.
When you step before them, you will be making your first appearance on color television
from Washington.
Three thousand miles away in our studios in Burbank, California, this entire program is
being recorded on electronic tape.
The picture, the color, the sound are being captured for posterity through this recording
system which NBC began using on a full-scale basis only last month, the change to daylight
time.
It will permit us, sir, to re-telecast this program to many sections of the United States
several hours later today, and with such true fidelity that millions of Americans will see
this ceremony as though it were being enacted at that time.
I have a strip of this new tape.
I have asked our engineers to make two tape copies of this program.
One will be sent, Mr. President, to the White House for your personal retention.
The other will be presented to the Library of Congress so that its archives may permanently
possess a visual record in color of this significant occasion.
Now we have created one further remembrance.
At my far left, you see a replica of a plaque which has been placed in the wall of the main
lobby of this station.
This plaque commemorates your participation in the dedication.
It is intended as an enduring reminder to all who enter this building of the honor paid
us on this day and beyond that of our obligation to continue strengthening the broadcasting
bonds between Washington and the nation.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
Thank you very much.
President Sarno, distinguished guests, fellow Americans, I think all of us realize that
in these fast-moving times, it is highly important that our nation's capital should be attached
to every single citizen in this country by the very fastest, best kind of communications.
It is of a nation, of a government, that at one time could tolerate three or four weeks
of study now demand almost instantaneous a reaction.
So it is, again, apparent that unless our citizenry can be informed of the things that
happen in the world and are reflected through the eyes of legislative and executive leaders
in such a way that they may understand exactly what these things mean, then the United States
cannot react as it should.
Now, today, as I came through this building, which will itself make these communications
better, more rapid, more comprehensive, I was completely overwhelmed by the technical
complexities and problems that the broadcasting industry has been solving.
I do not know whether the rest of you in this audience have been able to make that same
tour, but it is like nothing else so much in my mind as the radar room in a big battleship
or some other complex thing that really is entirely beyond my comprehension but is still
capable of exciting my wonderment.
So I cannot fail to congratulate, to felicitate the National Broadcasting Company for this
particular step in the communication, in developing the communications industry of our country.
I felicitate the officials of the company, and I must say I congratulate every citizen
whose understanding of this nation, of the world, will be made better and fuller by this
development.
Thank you very much.
Thank you all.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
It is fitting that we invite a response now from one who is responsible for the concept
of network broadcasting.
Thirty-five years ago, he spoke at the dedication of WRC, and four years later created NBC,
giving the nation its first broadcasting network.
He has devoted his entire life to nurturing the growth of our industry, serving not only
to bring television to fruition, but also to endow his country with a multitude of benefits
born of the science of communications.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Chairman of the Board of RCA, General David Sarnoff.
Mr. President, distinguished guests, fellow workers, ladies and gentlemen, we are highly
honored, Mr. President, by your presence here today.
And on behalf of my associates, as well as myself, I should like to express to you our
most sincere thanks and appreciation for taking out of your busy day the time to honor us
with your presence.
Having had the privilege of serving under you, both in war and in peace, I know firsthand
how deep is your interest in all forms of communication.
You expressed it very well in the remarks which you have just made.
Gratified as we are by your presence here today, we consider it a tribute not alone
to our company and to our people, but to the entire art and industry of communications whose
development and whose progress has always, as I know, excited your interest.
Perhaps there are some persons in the world who may not be very keen about being seen
in their true and natural colors.
Some of their pronouncements may on occasion bring a blush even to their own cheeks.
And this camera, I assure you, sir, is relentless in its revelations.
Happily, however, this is not so in America.
Here we fear no revelations.
We have nothing to hide.
On the contrary, we want everyone in the world to see America in its true and natural colors.
We want the people everywhere to see Americans at work and at play, to see our institutions
in action, reflecting their ideals and the ideals of our nation, as well as our human
imperfections.
Here we do not seek to be anything other than what we are.
And what we are is not hidden by curtains, nor what we say screened by censorship.
And so, Mr. President, once more I should like to express to you our very deep appreciation
of your presence here, and to assure you that we shall continue to do our very best to make
what contributions we may or can towards the objectives for which our nation and you as
its leader stand.
Objectives that may be very simply stated, the preservation of our freedom and security
and the advancement of the cause of peace and prosperity for all people everywhere.
Thank you.
Thank you, General Sano.
And now I should like to ask our guests who are here in the studio with us if they will
please remain at their chairs until the President of the United States has left the studio.
Thank you.
Now the President, accompanied by Mr. Smith and Mr. Sarnoff, goes out to the stage to
talk about the new N.B.C. building in Washington, where his car is waiting to take him back
to the White House.
He will pass on the way a plaque like this one, saying that on this date, May 22, 1958,
this new building was dedicated by the President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
And there, as you see, is a bas-relief sculpted of him.
And it will be placed in the lobby of our new building here.
General Sarnoff in his response has pointed out that Mr. Eisenhower is the first president to make full use of television and to allow the filming and broadcasting of his news conferences each week.
And the president, we can add to that, is rather proud to have done this.
And in this respect, he also is proud of another thing, of being the first president to allow himself to be quoted on the air and in the press.
In the past, it's always been required that the president's words be quoted indirectly.
Mr. Eisenhower has changed that, has allowed his news conferences to be filmed by NBC and other news agencies, and allows his words to be quoted exactly as he says them.
On returning to the White House, as he will in just a moment, the president will meet this afternoon with an old personal friend of his, General Kenyon Joyce, who was president of the Allied Control Commission for Italy during World War II.
And his schedule for the rest of the day includes a meeting at 3.30 with two members of Congress, Representatives Preston of Georgia and Clevenger of Ohio.
They are on a subcommittee investigating Tuesday's collision between an air, a civilian airliner and a jet military trainer.
They ask for new rules to be put in to try to prevent this in the future.
The air regulatory agencies of the government said they were not able to immediately, so they now go to talk to the president this afternoon about it further.
So from this ceremony, which he probably found comparatively relaxing, he now goes back to the responsibilities of the republic, something no president can ever really lay down.
That ends our ceremonies in Studio A at the dedication of our new building. David Brinkley, good afternoon. Thank you.
So do the official ceremonies marking the dedication by President Eisenhower of the nation's newest color television and radio center, the home of NBC's Washington stations, WRC-TV and WRC-AM and FM draw to their conclusion.
A truly significant day in the history of communications. From the tip of its new tower to the depths of its foundations, planted on one of the highest points in the nation's capital city, this new NBC structure, product of the latest advance in communication science, is equipped as few other stations are to bring you the significant events that transpire in the nation's capital.
Helping to record for you the unceasing march of the history that is made here.
In time, presidents will take their oath of office before our color cameras. Foreign guests, kings, queens, heads of government will step before our microphones.
And to the degree that the finest facilities can bring these and other events into your home in their full splendor, so is NBC and Washington now prepared to serve you wherever you may live.
And so it is with pride that we close with our cameras trained on the bronze plaque bearing the image of President Eisenhower that will, embedded in the lobby wall of this structure, for all time mark this moment of dedication to the service of the nation and this event of profound significance in the progress of communication.
Thank you.