THE RADIO HISTORIAN
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 WGY Schenectady, NY -
The General Electric Station

WGY in Schenectady, NY, was formed by the General Electric Company and debuted on February 20, 1922 with 1,000 watts - the highest-powered station in the country at that time. It was one of the country's foremost broadcasting stations from its beginning, and was the first to develop the art of radio drama. It also served as a laboratory for General Electric's contributions to the science of radio transmission, and became the first station in the country to operate with 50,000 watts in 1926.

WGY Programming

Kolin Hager, WGY's Manager and Chief Announcer. He won the job due to his performing flexibility - he was an operatic tenor with previous acting experience.
Kolin Hager broadcasts over WGY.
This is one of the first photographs of a broadcast from WGY, taken in 1922. Mlle. Ladd is at the harp, and Kolin Hager, in formal dress, addresses the microphone. His assistant, Robert Weidow, is at the rear.
An unidentified singer entertains on WGY, with piano accompaniment.
Jessie B. Lane was one of WGY's regular program hosts. In this 1926 photo, she delivers a cooking lesson over the airwaves. She stands before one of General Electric's imposing condenser microphones, which were only used by the company's own stations.
In September, 1922, WGY broadcast the first known radio dramatic presentation - Eugene Walter's "The Wolf". After the broadcast, the station received more than two thousand letters of appreciation. One letter from Pittsfield, Mass., claimed that the screams of one character coming from her loudspeaker were so real that neighbors called the police.
The WGY Players in action. In its first season (fall 1922 through spring, 1923), the Players presented 43 dramatic broadcasts over WGY. The same group of actors appeared in every production, making it radio's first dramatic stock company.
Another view of the WGY Players during a performance.
This early 1920's group portrait shows the WGY Players regular actors, along with some of the actors of the Van Curler Players, who were called upon occasionally when extra roles needed to be filled.
Another view of the WGY Players at an unknown later date. The WGY Players were a fixture on WGY throughout the 1920's.
As they refined the art of radio drama, the WGY Players developed the means to create live sound effects for their broadcast. This photo shows the "WGY Noisemakers" in the studio in 1925.
The WGY Players perform 'Rip Van Winkle' about 1925. Director Ten Eyck Clay, at the microphone, played the role of Rip while the rest of the cast creates sound effects. Frank Oliver pours water through a sieve to create the sound of rain. In the background are the thunder sheeet and wind machine. Others make the sounds of wind and rolling thunder (bowling ball).
Emily Smith Warner, the daughter of New York Governor Alfred E. Smith, delivered a talk about the State Charities Aid Association over WGY in 1926.
Senator Harry S Truman reads the farm report during the Farm Forum on WGY.
Singer Mary Michel at WGY microphone.
In 1929, Amelia Earhart broadcast over WGY and its shortwave station W2XAF. She read letters addressed to Admiral Byrd's Antarctic Expedition. Here she is with WGY Publicity Manager Martin P. Rice.
British aviator Lady Mary Heath broadcast over WGY in May, 1929.
German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling speaks over WGY's shortwave station, and sends greetings to his mother in Germany, 1930
Aviation pioneer Clarence Chamberlin speaks over WGY, 1929
Jockey Everett Haynes tells the WGY audience about Epinard, the French thoroughbred he will ride in all its races on American turf.
Arctic explorer Donald MacMillan broadcasts over WGY before his 1925 expedition.
This group of children appeared on a WGY program. The date, identities and nature of the program are unknown.
An all-girl band performs over WGY - date and program unknown.
A woman singer with piano accompaniment broadcasts over WGY in 1931. The singer and program are not identified.
An unidentified harpist in the WGY studio.
In the 1920's, WGY billed itself as "The Electric City Station".
In 1935, Manager Kolin Hager described the progression of microphone development for the station's 13 year anniversary celebration. Seen here are several carbon and condenser microphones, and a ribbon mic.
Asa O. Coggshall leads a WGY singing quartet in 1942. Coggshall had been with WGY since the station's first year.
A musical broadcast from the WGY studios, 1942.
WGY sound technician Betty Bower provides live sound effects during a 1942 performance.

WGY Technical

This is a view of WGY's first transmitter. It was a "tabletop" work in progress, with the power tubes on the left, tuning network in the center, and the high voltage power supply at right. With 1,000 watt output, WGY was the country's most powerful station in 1922.
This was the WGY antenna atop General Electric Building No. 40 in Schenectady, 1928.
The General Electric test facility in South Schenectady, NY. Many developments in the science of radio transmission were developed here. (From the G.E. booklet “Spanning a Continent”, 1926)
This is the prototype General Electric 50 kW transmitter which was used by in 1926. This was the first American broadcast transmitter to operate with 50,000 watts.
This was the transmitting panel of the experimental General Electric 100 kW transmitter used for superpower tests by WGY in Schenectady in 1927. Three of the system’s five high power water-cooled tubes are to the left of the operator.
General Electric's Schenectady laboratories developed the technology of using quartz crystals as a transmitter frequency reference. The engineer in this photo is holding a crystal and its enclosure.
This was General Electric’s research laboratory in South Schenectady, NY, in 1925. The transmitter seen here is operating on 109 meters.
GE's experimental shortwave station, W2XAD in Schenectady, 1930.
This is an exterior view of W2XAD in Schenectady at about the same time.
By 1941, W2XAD had become G.E.'s two commercial shortwave stations, WGEO and WGEA. The next year, these stations would be turned over to the government in the beginnings of the Voice of America.
This view shows the shortwave antennas of WGEO and WGEA in 1941.
Company engineer Lawrence Leeds holds one of the high-powered rectifier tubes developed by G.E. in this undated photo.
WGY built this new studio building on the River Road near Schenectady's Great Western Gateway Bridge in 1938 for a reported cost of $500,000. The building was torn down in 1961 to make way for Interstate 890.
The WGY studio building is in the foreground of this photo, with the General Electric plant complex in the distance.
This is the interior of the WGY building, looking down the main corridor from the lobby.
A performance in the main studio of the WGY building, 1938.
Engraved invitation to the WGY studio building inauguration ceremony, which was broadcast nationwide over the NBC network.
WGY engineer Al Knapp explains the WGY control room to Betty Bauer, Maude Clark and Jean Craig in 1942. Women were being hired as studio engineers because qualified men were in short supply during World War II.