Special Radio Tape for Station WMRN in Marion, Ohio (WMRN-2026-067) is a transcript accession associated with WMRN editorial and public-affairs programming, preserved within the WMRN Editorial and Public Affairs Collection. Dated April 29, 1963, the document records a special radio tape prepared for Station WMRN in response to the station’s editorial concerning the Youth Employment Act.

The five-page transcript is explicitly addressed to Station WMRN in Marion, Ohio, and thanks the station while responding to its commentary. It documents how WMRN’s editorials could generate formal responses and extend local broadcast discussion into wider public-policy conversations.

Historical Significance

This transcript documents WMRN’s editorial/public-affairs role and preserves evidence of listener or institutional response to station commentary.

The item shows how a local radio editorial could participate in broader discussions of youth employment policy and how outside voices prepared material specifically for broadcast or consideration by WMRN.

Exhibit Label

Special Radio Tape for Station WMRN in Marion, Ohio. April 29, 1963. Transcript / PDF. This document is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

The post Special Radio Tape for Station WMRN in Marion, Ohio first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.

Media Preview

To Madge with Love by Scott Spears (WMRN-2026-054) is a digitized 66-page biographical booklet about longtime WMRN broadcaster Madge Cooper Guthery, preserved within the WMRN Personalities and Staff Documentation Collection. Written by Scott Spears with Chris Collins, the booklet was digitized from a Marion Public Library reference copy. No formal publication date appears in the scanned pages, although the library copy contains a December 6, 2011 catalog or accession stamp.

The booklet documents Guthery’s life and long association with WMRN, beginning with her arrival at the station in 1941. It covers her work as director of women’s activities, continuity writer, and WMRN’s first woman program director, along with her later local-history program The Way We Were and her extensive community service. Photographs and contextual material also document WMRN, Marion broadcasting culture, Ray Marsh, Rod Serling, Scott Spears, and other people connected with Guthery’s life and career.

Career and Historical Topics Documented in Booklet
1941 – Madge Cooper Guthery begins her association with WMRN shortly after the station goes on the air.
Director of Women’s Activities – Guthery develops and presents programming directed toward women in the Marion community.
Continuity Writer – Guthery writes station copy, announcements, and other broadcast material for WMRN.
First Woman Program Director – Guthery becomes the first woman to hold the program director position at WMRN.
The Way We Were – Guthery later hosts a local-history program focused on Marion’s people, places, and community memories.
Community Service – The booklet documents Guthery’s involvement in civic, historical, and community organizations.
WMRN Broadcasting History – Photographs and narrative material provide additional context concerning WMRN-AM, WMRN-FM, station personalities, and Marion broadcasting culture.

Historical Significance

This booklet preserves one of the most detailed known accounts of Madge Cooper Guthery’s life and broadcasting career. It is especially useful because it documents her arrival at WMRN during the station’s earliest years, her progression through several important programming and writing positions, and her role as WMRN’s first woman program director.

The item also preserves a broader history of WMRN and Marion broadcasting through photographs, personal recollections, and contextual material involving station employees, community figures, and local media history. As a biographical document, it helps connect Guthery’s personal story with the institutional history of WMRN and the development of local radio in Marion, Ohio.

Exhibit Label

To Madge with Love: The Story of Marion’s First Lady of Broadcasting, Madge Cooper Guthery. c. 2011. Written by Scott Spears with Chris Collins. Digitized biographical booklet. This item is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

The post To Madge with Love: The Story of Marion’s First Lady of Broadcasting, Madge Cooper Guthery first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.

WMRN 53 Years Serving the Marion Area Promotional Timeline Handout (WMRN-2026-053) is a printed station-history and anniversary handout associated with WMRN-AM / WMRN-FM, preserved within the WMRN Promotional Ephemera Collection. The handout was likely produced in or after September 1993, based on its “53 Years” anniversary language and the latest milestone printed on the sheet.

The piece features a blue-and-white design headed “Celebrating 53 Years of Serving the Marion Area,” with a central color photograph of the WMRN building, flagpole, landscaping, and antenna towers. The lower portion presents a selected institutional timeline of WMRN milestones from the station’s 1940 sign-on through early 1990s facility and operational improvements.

Timeline Milestones Printed on Item

• December 23, 1940 – WMRN-AM signs on the air under the auspices of Robert and Frank Mason.
• February 1949 – TV writer/producer Rod Serling is hired under a college work-study program.
• May 1953 – WMRN-FM signs on the air simulcasting WMRN’s AM signal with 25,000 watts of power.
• November 1967 – WMRN-FM ceases simulcasting and offers its own “beautiful music” format.
• January 1971 – A major addition is completed, more than doubling space for studios, offices, and transmitting equipment.
• April 1, 1981 – “Beautiful music” is replaced with a contemporary country music format.
• December 23, 1990 – WMRN celebrates its golden anniversary.
• April 1992 – WMRN-FM becomes “Hot Country-107.”
• September 1993 – WMRN-AM-FM completes a major capital improvements project, computerizing station operations with digital audio technology.

Historical Significance

This handout documents how WMRN presented its own institutional history to listeners and the Marion community during the early 1990s. It is especially useful because it combines facility imagery, station anniversary language, AM/FM development, programming changes, and technology modernization into a single promotional object.

The item also preserves WMRN’s public narrative of continuity: from the Mason-era 1940 sign-on, through Rod Serling’s early station association, FM expansion, format changes, Hot Country 107 branding, and early digital operations. As printed ephemera, it helps show how local radio history was summarized, commemorated, and distributed outside the broadcast itself.

Exhibit Label

WMRN 53 Years Serving the Marion Area Promotional Timeline Handout. c. 1993. Printed promotional timeline handout / station history flyer. This item is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

The post WMRN 53 Years Serving the Marion Area Promotional Timeline Handout first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.

Description

A two-page official letter from the White House dated December 23, 1970, addressed to Charles R. Evers of WMRN in Marion, Ohio.

Signed by Herbert G. Klein, Director of Communications for the Nixon administration, the correspondence responds to Evers’ inquiry regarding an Associated Press report on the federal tax settlement involving entertainer Joey Naples.

The letter provides a detailed explanation of the Internal Revenue Service’s calculations, outlines legal limitations following a Supreme Court decision, and clarifies the reasoning behind the final negotiated settlement. The language reflects formal federal communication practices of the period.

Included with the letter is the original mailing envelope, postmarked Washington, D.C., December 24, 1970, and addressed to WMRN / The Marion Broadcasting Company.

This document represents a rare and direct exchange between a local Marion broadcaster and the White House, illustrating the level of journalistic engagement maintained by WMRN during the early 1970s.

The post White House Letter to Charles R. Evers on Joey Naples Case (1970) first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.

This document formally established the legal corporate entity responsible for constructing and operating radio station WMRN in Marion, Ohio. Filed with the Ohio Secretary of State and recorded in Volume 471, Page 131, the incorporation outlines the company’s structure, authority, and financial foundation.

The filing authorized 250 shares of no-par-value stock and established an initial capitalization of $15,000. Named incorporators include Robert T. Mason of Fremont, Ohio, along with Fred E. Guthery and Howard F. Guthery.

The Articles granted broad operational authority, including the ownership and operation of broadcasting facilities, advertising services, and related business activities. Notably, the document references television and facsimile services, reflecting forward-looking legal language common in corporate filings of the period.

This piece provides insight into the earliest stage of WMRN’s development, documenting the station’s transition from concept to legally established enterprise prior to its sign-on later that year on December 23, 1940.

This document is preserved as part of the WMRN Radio History Archive.

OCR / Visible Text Extract
Accession: WMRN-2026-039
Document: Articles of Incorporation of The Marion Broadcasting Company
Filed: April 22, 1940
Filing No.: 179100
Recorded: Volume 471, Page 131, Records of Incorporations, Office of the Secretary of State of Ohio

Note: This is a verified visible-text extract from the document images. It captures the main legal and discovery text, but is not yet a fully proofread diplomatic transcription of every printed form word.

Page 1
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF The Marion Broadcasting Company.

Page 2
Articles of Incorporation of The Marion Broadcasting Company.

The undersigned, a majority of whom are citizens of the United States, desiring to form a corporation, for profit, under the General Corporation Act of Ohio, do hereby certify:

FIRST. The name of said corporation shall be The Marion Broadcasting Company.

SECOND. The place in Ohio where its principal office is to be located is Marion, Marion County.

THIRD. The purpose or purposes for which it is formed are:

Owning, leasing and operating radio broadcasting, television and facsimile stations, disseminating advertising, entertainment and amusements of all kinds and in any manner; carrying on a general advertising business, buying, selling, leasing, and operating real estate and buildings thereon; executing, making, giving and performing any and every agreement or contract necessary or desirable for carrying on any or all of the business of said corporation; and doing everything necessary, suitable or proper for the accomplishment of the purposes herein enumerated and which shall at any time appear expedient for the benefit or protection of said corporation, or its rights, property or assets, or calculated to enhance the value thereof; and to do any and all of the things herein set forth to the same extent as a natural person might or could do, and in furtherance and not in limitation of the general powers conferred by the laws of the State of Ohio, and also to do and perform all other things that it legally may do.

Page 3
FOURTH. The maximum number of shares which the corporation is authorized to have outstanding is two hundred fifty (250), all of which shall be with no par value.

FIFTH. The amount of capital with which the corporation will begin business is fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00).

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 22nd day of April, 1940.

Robert T. Mason
Fred E. Guthery
Howard F. Guthery

State of Ohio, County of Marion, ss. Personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Notary Public, in and for said county, this 22nd day of April, 1940, the above named Robert T. Mason, Fred E. Guthery, and Howard F. Guthery, who each severally acknowledged the signing of the foregoing articles of incorporation to be his free act and deed, for the uses and purposes therein mentioned.

Witness my hand and official seal on the day and year last aforesaid.

Enid Little, Notary Public.

Page 4
United States of America, State of Ohio, Office of the Secretary of State.

I, Geo. M. Neffner, Secretary of State, of the State of Ohio, do hereby certify that the foregoing is an exemplified copy, carefully compared by me with the original record now in my official custody as Secretary of State, and found to be true and correct, of the Articles of Incorporation of The Marion Broadcasting Company.

Filed in this office on the 22nd day of April, 1940, and recorded in Volume 471, Page 131 of the Records of Incorporations.

Witness my hand and official seal at Columbus, Ohio, this 22nd day of April, 1940.

Geo. M. Neffner, Secretary of State.

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Part of the Founding of WMRN Collection

The post Articles of Incorporation” — Marion Broadcasting Company (April 22, 1940) first appeared on The WMRN Radio History Archive.