On this series premiere of From the Vault, we’re celebrating the 57th anniversary of the legendary community radio network Lewis Hill founded in 1949. But instead of a typical collage of all the great clips from Pacifica’s past, we’re looking specifically at the two people who most defined the network. The first, of course, is Lewis Hill: pacifist, conscientious objector, and Pacifica’s original visionary. The second is Elsa Knight Thompson: one of the first women radio broadcasters, an award-winning journalist, and famed interviewer. These two were the spirit of Pacifica for the Network’s first 20 years. And their spirits still guide Pacifica and all listener-sponsored radio. They shared a common belief - a fundamental belief - that all opinions were entitled to an outlet, that everyone was entitled to a voice. This week, we hear theirs.
The second half of this show introduces David Moore, Lewis Hill’s son. David Moore selected one program out of the entire Pacifica Radio Archives’ vault to play raw and unedited, and we’ll hear his comments on why this particular recording is so important to him.