Primary Sources
Library of Congress Motion Picture Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division holds vast numbers of films. Most are not available online, but copies can sometimes be purchased. Many of these films are available through American Memory and the Prelinger Archives of "ephemeral" (advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur) films in the Internet Archive (select Search Moving Images). If the film you want is not evident on the LC website, enquire directly as the collection is not fully cataloged.
OTR.Network Library offers "Old Time Radio" programs.
Prelinger Archives includes films, radio audio clips, news clips, educational films, advertisements, industry films, etc.
Advertisements
Radio Advertising in the 1920s and 1930s
Selling Stuff During the Golden Age of Radio
Public Broadcasting PolicyBase (1945-2012): Key documents about the history, purpose, policy and structure of public broadcasting in the US.
AmericanRadioHistory.com: The Online Radio & TV Library offers an enormous collection of radio/TV magazines.
AmericanRadioHistory.com: The Online Radio & TV Library offers ratings (Arbitron and other statistics).
Secondary Sources, Context and Background
- Reference Sources: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Chronologies, etc.
- Biographical Sources
- Bibliographies of Books and Articles
Chronologies, Dictionaries, Directories, Encyclopedias, Handbooks
AmericanRadioHistory.com: The Online Radio & TV Library offers station logs and schedules and other material.
American radio networks: a history, by Jim Cox. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2009, 228 p.
Widener | Harvard Depository | PN1991.3.U6 C63 2009
Encyclopedia of American radio, 1920-1960, by Luther F. Sies. 2nd ed. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2008. 2 v.
Widener | WID-LC | PN1991.2 .S57 2008
The encyclopedia of American radio: an A-Z guide to radio from Jack Benny to Howard Stern, by Ron Lackmann. Updated ed. New York: Facts On File, 2000, 370 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN1991.3.U6 L29 2000
Encyclopedia of black radio in the United States, 1921-1955, by Ryan Ellett. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2012, 208 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN1991.8.A35 E45 2012
Historical dictionary of American radio, ed. by Donald G. Godfrey and Frederic A. Leigh. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1998, 485 p.
Baker Business | Stacks -- LC Books | PN1991.2 .H57 1998
Widener | WID-LC | PN1991.2 .H57 1998
Historical dictionary of old-time radio, by Robert C. Reinehr, Jon D. Swartz. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2008, 305 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN1991.3.U6 R45 2008
A history of broadcasting in the United States, by Douglas Gomery. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2008, 357 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN1990.6.U5 G66 2008
Key concepts in radio studies, by Hugh Chignell. Los Angeles ; London: SAGE, 2009, 191 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN1991.5 .C46 2009x
On the air: the encyclopedia of old-time radio, by John Dunning. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, 822 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN1991.3.U6 D8 1998x
Radio broadcasting from 1920 to 1990: an annotated bibliography, by Diane Foxhill Carothers. New York: Garland Pub., 1991, 564 p.
Widener | Harvard Depository | PN1991.5.Z99 C37 1991x
Radio program openings and closings, 1931-1972, by Vincent Terrace. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2003, 278 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN1991.3.U6 T44 2003
Same time-- same station: an A-Z guide to radio from Jack Benny to Howard Stern, by Ron Lackmann. New York: Facts on File, 1996, 370 p.
Widener | Harvard Depository | PN1991.3.U6 L32 1996x
Tune in yesterday: the ultimate encyclopedia of old-time radio, 1925-1976, by John Dunning. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976, 703 p.
Widener | WID-LC | PN1991.3.U6 D8
Museum of Broadcast Communications includes the Radio Hall of Fame offering short biographies of numerous radio figures.