In Brief
The earliest days of what would become KPFT are recorded only in hard-to-access archives and fragments of documents that escaped the ravages of time. Many of the key players from that period have since passed away and so the oral history of the station is mostly lost, except in secondhand retellings.
The conventional story, summarized, is that
" KPFT was born in Houston about 50 years ago. In the late 1960s, Houston was still behind the times, meaning certain stories were ignored by the media and the ruling classes.
Our city’s first woman who was black had been elected to the school board. And even though there was pressure for desegregation and equal rights — the local papers, television, and radio declined to cover her victory.
Out of a first amendment urge, “two young, disillusioned journalists” started KPFT — Larry Lee from the Associated Press and Don Gardner from the Houston Post."
And that is true, but it excludes much effort, encouragement, frustration, and wheeling and dealing that led up to the launch of KPFT.
Records in care of this project from that era connect Houston and Austin in several important ways. Later work may delve more deeply into the backgrounds of Larry Lee and Don Gardner, and their connections to the Austin area, but for now, two men in that city provided important moral and practical support during the earliest years of KPFT.
In the interest of privacy any addresses for private residences have been redacted. Otherwise, the letters are transcribed faithfully.
1967 - Ronnie Dugger
The earliest records available to this project date from March, 1967 and reveal a few names not commonly mentioned when the foundation of Pacifica Radio in Houston is discussed.
This first letter is itself a reply to an earlier missive that is thus far undiscovered among the files available to this writer, and is from WBAI general manager Frank Millspaugh Jr., to Ronnie Dugger.
27th March 1967
Mr. Ronnie Dugger
<REDACTED>
<REDACTED>
Dear Mr. Dugger:
I received your inquiry today and am forwarding it to the office of the President of the Pacifica Foundation, Mr. Lloyd M. Smith, at 633 South Shatto Place, Los Angeles, California, 90005.
I personally am much pleased to learn of your interest in beginning a Pacifica Station in Houston. Roughly, I would estimate that it would take about $200,000 to begin a station, and about $225,000 per year to operate it. However, these figures can vary considerably depending on the location. Each Pacifica Station has free access to the program of all the others. A New Station would probably depend very heavily on the more established ones for programs at first, thus keeping its Program costs to a minimum.
While you await more precise information from Mr. Smith, I suggest that you determine whether there are many unassisgned FM channels in the Houston area. This would Probably be an "educational" channel.
I hope that this will be the first in a long and productive exchange of correspondence.
Yours Sincerely,
Frank A Millspaugh, Jr.,
General Manager
Ronnie Dugger was the founding editor of The Texas Observer and its' publisher for 40 years. He is a noted journalist, activist, and Texan.
