The Labudde Special Collections Blog

Countless times each day we are bombarded by visual rhetoric, the use of images to influence or persuade an audience. The persuasive element of visual rhetoric lies in its ability to instantly connect with our emotional mind before the rational part of the brain is signaled. Using an example of World War II propaganda from UMKC LaBudde Special Collections I will demonstrate the mechanics and effectiveness of visual rhetoric while expanding understanding of how images influence people.

Visual rhetoric techniques make use of the appeal of pathos, a form of persuasion appealing to an individual’s emotions - rather than their rational mind - therefore having greater persuasive influence (“The Forest of Rhetoric”¹). Although it might seem hard to believe that humans can be influenced subconsciously, it can be explained by the observations of neurobiology researchers Joseph LeDoux and Antonio Damasio. They suggest that when the eye observes a visual image, a signal is sent to the cortex, the part of the brain that houses rational thought (Damasio). But before the sensory signal is sent there, another signal is first sent to the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes emotions and memory (LeDoux). Thus, the amygdala creates an emotional response before the mind can fully perceive an image. This circumvention of reason and provocation of emotional response is the goal of visual rhetoric elicit.

Nowadays, the experience of living in a country at war often appears to affect only those Americans whose friends and family members deploy to combat zones. In the 1940s, however, the experience of war pervaded nearly every aspect of everyday life in America. For people living during those dark times, listening to Vic & Sade — one of America’s most beloved radio dramas — was no exception. The show, which centered on the life of a married suburban couple, Victor and Sade Gook, and their adopted son, Rush, had been extremely popular among radio listeners for almost a decade prior to America’s entrance into the Second World War. The demands of the war, however, quickly tested the program’s durability.

As he is often referred to as the “Original Texas Ranger,” it is commonly assumed that Tex Owens was an original member of the Texas Rangers, a western music group from the Kansas City-based radio station KMBC who became nationally recognized stars in the 1930s and 1940s.

Understandably, it is easy to make that assumption when programs featuring the Texas Rangers such as "Life on Red Horse Ranch" featured Tex and his serenading of the "dogies” in nearly every episode. However, the Texas Rangers radio program, hosted by Hiram Higsby, never referred to Tex as a member but rather as a special guest. So what was it? Was Tex Owens the “Original Texas Ranger” or was he an associated act? Well, it depends on whom you ask.

National Women’s History Month was initially only celebrated for a week during the month of March. In 1987, United States Congress passed a resolution expanding the observance from a week to a month due to the appeals made by the National Women’s History Project (NWHP). In celebration of National Women’s History Month and International Women's Day, I would like to highlight a few of the various radio programs available in the J. David Goldin Collection that feature women.

The collection contains interviews with the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Adele Astaire, Marian Anderson, Hildegarde, Ilka Chase, Gertrude Lawrence, (Savings Bond campaign. Prominent women series. Program nos. 7-12), and Jessie Street (A look at Australia. Program no. 42, Women in the United States) just to name a few.

2012 marks the 75th anniversary of the public introduction of Raymond Scott's music! Find out more about events surrounding this occasion at the Raymond Scott Archives blog. And don't forget to check out what your very own LaBudde Special Collections has to offer in the Raymond Scott Collection donated by Raymond's widow, Mitzi in 1993.

Check out this week’s edition of the University News features a 2-page spread on the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America! Make sure to pick up a hard copy in the MNL lobby and elsewhere on campus to see featured images of items from the collection. If you prefer the online version, you'll be missing out on the array of photos.

Stuart Hinds, Director of LSC

When J. David Goldin visited UMKC in May 2010, I could not pass up the opportunity to speak with him. He has listened to and annotated thousands upon thousands of hours of historical American radio. He has a passion for radio, as he said in our conversation, “I collected the stuff because I like to listen to it.”

There are not many people in the world with his knowledge and exposure to radio. So I decided to ask him the ultimate question:

“What is good radio?”

The Brush Creek Follies may have easily been classified as a western rural variety show, and to an extent, that’s exactly what it was. However, quite a few musicians featured on the Brush Creek Follies did not devote their musical abilities exclusively to hillbilly and western music. Such groups as the Midland Minstrels (pictured right), Harvest Hands, Judy Allen, and the Payne Sisters all performed songs that appealed to novelty and popular music crowds. These musicians were incredibly good, especially the multi-talented Charlie Pryor, originally a member of the Midland Minstrels and later affiliated with the Tune Chasers. Listen to an excerpt displaying the versatility of the musicians on the Brush Creek Follies (download RealAudio Player).

A portrait of our growing nation can be found on the map entitled “Map of the Northern Part of Missouri Territory” dating from around 1817. The war of 1812 had just ended and the country was growing westward into the new territories. The map shows the area around St. Louis well settled and a spray of just created counties spreading westward.

Within the Goldin collection, the political roundtable debates, dramas with social commentary, and panel discussions about real and significant problems, most of which have no answer and are still legitimate problems in America and abroad, are very relevant, despite the age of the recordings.

There are occasionally discs that will always stand out, such as This is South Africa: South African Problem. The "problem" referred to in the title is the "natural" cultural and developmental differences between indigenous South Africans and white South Africans. As the speaker explains it, racial segregation was necessary to allow particular races to enjoy their own cultural differences; indigenous tribes like the Zulu (there is an interesting, if not completely related, program on polygamy in Zulu society on the reverse of this disc) could continue their traditional ways of life without interference, and Europeans and European descendants were free to abide by their own ways of living. The real and harsh reality is that those justifications are false, almost laughably false if not for the terror they conceal. A point that the speaker stressed throughout was the different technological developments that separated the indigenous ethnic groups from the white South Africans. They never used the phrase, but “separate but equal” sums up his argument. We all know the history of that thinking in our own homeland.