In this episode of From the Vault, we explore how May Day celebrations manifest themselves in different ways here at home and around the world, using historic audio from Pacifica Radio Archives.

We begin with excerpts from an original Pacifica Radio Archives series called Club Evolution. We compiled archive material which captures the essence of May Day as it evolved from the commemoration of the struggles of the Labor Movement to include the fight for peace, equality, and justice. Author and activist Sabina Virgo weaves together these common threads in this inaugural program called May Day and the American Labor Movement.

Next, we look at how May Day is celebrated around the world as Pacifica correspondents Daniel Singer, Alan Snitow, and others report from Mexico City, Italy, Mozambique and Angola, in a program called May Day 1977.

Finally, while May Day celebrations in the United States are relatively tame compared to other parts of the world, WBAI producer Bruce Soloway, armed with a tape recorder and a New York City Police Department-issued press badge, reports on an especially confrontational May Day demonstration in 1971 from Washington D.C.

From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, Labor Day May Day:

PZ0431.01 May Day and the American Labor Movement MORE INFO

AZ0046 May Day 1977 MORE INFO

BC0582a Insurrection City: May Day 1971 MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

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This week on From the Vault, we listen to a number of recordings in the matter of Richard M. Nixon, thirty-seventh president of the United States. Before we get to Pacifica’s rendering of the Nixon Oval Office tapes, featuring Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, and “Mama” Cass Elliot, let’s step back to 1968, the year Nixon was elected into the White House. It was during their August 5-8th party convention that the Republicans formally announced Nixon as their candidate, and later in the month the turmoil of the 1968 DNC in Chicago took place. In our examination of the DNC a few From the Vault episodes back, we heard the powerful sounds of the streets, the theater of ideas, Black Panther Party Chairman Bobby Seale speaking in Lincoln park, Poet Allen Ginsberg getting tear-gassed, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and the crowds. Pacifica listeners were witness to the events outside the convention hall with an immediacy the television viewers missed.

So this brings us to our first selection of ‘Nixon’ audio from the Pacifica Radio Archives vault: The Pro-Nixon Rally, Madison Square Garden, New York City, October 31st, 1968. What Pacifica listeners heard –that the television audience did not hear– were the instructions to the delegates as if they were extras on a movie set. As you listen to the warm up speaker, realize that these were never meant to be heard by the viewers. Then, hear television icon Jackie Gleason whole-heartedly throw his support behind Richard M. Nixon in his run for President – a widely-broadcast act, perhaps signaling the dawn of a new era of political persuasion in the United States.

After Nixon won the election in November of 1968, the world continued to spin out of control. Pacifica programmers Neal Conan and Paul Fisher produced a report that brought the experience of the insiders and outsiders to the listeners, featured in our next From the Vault segment, and taken from a The Half Time Show, a program recorded outside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on December 9, 1969 as Nixon received the National Football Hall of Fame Gold Medal.

Finally, moving forward to 1974, and the Watergate scandal, we listen to dramatized reading of the Nixon Tapes, featuring the talent of Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, and “Mama” Cass Elliot – introduced by the 1974 Program Director for KPFK Los Angeles.

From the Vault is proudly presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, In the Matter of Richard M. Nixon:

BB3541 Nixon Rally: October 31st, 1968 MORE INFO

KZ3786 The White House Tapes

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

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As the Pacifica Radio Archives presents its 1968 Revolution Rewind series, we have listened to critical events from 40 years ago and the voices of the key figures during that time. This week we listen to two visionary thinkers, both writers of the future who have guided humanity by daring us to exercise our imagination – Ray Bradbury and Gene Roddenberry – as they address the 1968 World Science Fiction Convention held at the Hotel Claremont in Berkeley California.

From the Vault is proudly presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this program:

BB2024.03 Ray Bradbury MORE INFO

BB2024.05 To boldly go where no man has gone before / Gene Roddenberry MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

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This week on From the Vault, we will listen to more from our 1968 Revolution Rewind Preservation and Access Initiative and the volatile confrontations at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. As the stage is set and the nation looks toward the Democrats convening in Denver and the Republicans gathering in St. Paul, the activist, police, politicians, organizers, and journalists here and abroad are taking note of the relevance of the DNC events of 1968. This week, the New York Times reported on the Denver police bracing for the convention protesters and the judge who faced the ACLU and a coalition of protest groups led by “Recreate 68” seeking a ruling on easing the strict security provisions. The Black Star News ran a new interview with Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale about 1968 an the ensuing Chicago 8 trial. And the Pacifica Radio Archives is getting noticed, too.

Columnist Christopher Batement wrote in his piece, “Reliving the 1968 Democratic National Convention” highlighting the preservation project that allowed him to hear the “remarkable immediacy” in which Pacifica brought the events to the listener. Although you may have heard excerpts of this program on Pacifica Radio as recently as a few weeks ago, here we present it for the first time in many years in its entirety. Introducing the award-winning documentary, A Night in Chicago is Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman.

From the Vault is proudly presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.

Archival recordings used in this week’s episode, A Night in Chicago – 1968 DNC:

BB2159 A Night in Chicago (Original Documentary) MORE INFO

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

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