''The V. D. Radio Project'' was a public health campaign created by the

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...

in 1949 to combat syphilis. In 1949, taking advantage of the recently developed treatments of the sexually transmitted disease involving penicillin, the

enlisted the help of radio veteran and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

professor

Erik Barnouw Erik Barnouw (June 23, 1908 – July 19, 2001) was a U.S. historian of radio and television broadcasting. At the time of his death, Barnouw was widely considered to be America's most distinguished historian of broadcasting. Life According to ...

to create a series of radio programs intended to raise awareness and to influence the millions of men and women suffering from the disease to seek help. Targeting the rural south and industrial north, the V. D. Radio Project created a variety of programming, including

public service announcements A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

from various entertainers and politicians, interviews with patients and doctors, soap operas, and what they called "ballad dramas" or "hillbilly operas". The ballad dramas were the brainchild of folklorist Alan Lomax, who enlisted country, folk, and gospel superstars to perform their music in dramatic programs tailor-made for their talents and personae. Performers in the ballad dramas included

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Hank Williams, Roy Acuff, and Merle Travis, among others.

External links

The V. D. Radio Project
a
The WNYC ArchivesVD on the Radio
from

Studio 360 ''Studio 360'' was an American weekly public radio program about the arts and culture hosted by novelist Kurt Andersen and produced by Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and ''Slate'' in New York City. The program's stated goal was to "Get inside the ...

Venereal Disease and Country Music
blog piece fro
The University of Missouri-Kansas City Marr Sound Archives
Health campaigns American talk radio programs 1940s American radio programs

Further reading

External links