Radio Girls(123)

Enormous thanks are due the BBC Written Archives Centre in Caversham and Archives Researcher Jeff Walden. The wealth of material was such that I could have happily wallowed in it for weeks.

The generosity of Kate Murphy, author of Behind the Wireless: An Early History of Women at the BBC, is simply unparalleled. Not only did she invite me into her lovely London home, where we spent a wonderful day discussing Hilda and the BBC, but she also allowed me to access what was nothing less than an absolute gold mine of information, photographs, recordings, and ephemera. For anyone who wants to learn more about Hilda and other real pioneering women at the BBC, Kate’s book is a treasure.

I was immeasurably lucky to be in London soon after the opening of the Science Museum’s exhibit Information Age, which featured the original 2LO transmitter, described in this book, among other radio treasures. John Liffen, the Curator of Communications and Electricity Supply, very kindly gave of his time to guide me through the exhibit and tell me more about the 2LO and 1920s broadcasting.

Luck continued in that Hilda’s house on Sumner Street is about a five-minute walk from the Science Museum, so I was able to pay it a visit and take pictures. I hope it will soon bear a blue plaque marking Hilda’s residence there.

Jon Cable, the assistant archivist at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, was so kind as to give me a tour of Savoy Hill House, show me photos, and answer a number of questions.

Back in the US, I am beyond grateful for the sanctuary that is Paragraph Writers Space and all my many friends there. Special shout-outs to readers, champions, and purveyors of hugs and cookies: Allison Amend, Kate Bernstein, George Black, Athos Cakiades, Lisa Dierbeck, Elyssa East, Sophie Jaff, Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau, Rebecca Louie, Ilana Masad, Amy Meng, Caroline Rothstein, Sia Sotirakis, Laura Strausfeld, and Cynthia Weiner! And so many others—we are a very special community.

Special thanks always to my agent, Margaret O’Connor of Innisfree Literary, who is not only a tireless champion but also a good friend.

I was lucky to work with two terrific editors on this book. First, Ellen Edwards, who saw the potential and took a chance, and then Kate Seaver, whose perspective and passion helped strengthen and deepen the story.

Many, many friends were endless sources of love and support. One superspecial shout-out to Melinda Klayman, my oldest friend and “sister,” who is always a critical champion. I got to spend time with her, her terrific husband, Michael Zbyszynski, and their amazing little daughter, Anya, in both the early and the final days of piecing the story together. Though this book doesn’t have a specific dedication, it’s girls like Anya I have in mind—girls I hope will grow up unafraid to use their voices.

Further hugs to Sarah Canner, Jen Deaderick, Nathan Dunbar, Rob Intile, Amanda Kirk (another major hero during the final crunch), Karol Nielsen, Alisa Roost, Joe Wallace, Jerry Weinstein, and so many, many more. I am very lucky.

Hilda and Maisie have been very good friends to me as well. I am sorry to bid them goodbye, but if I may quote the inimitable Carol Burnett, “I’m so glad we’ve had this time together.”





QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION


1. Despite the restrictions many women faced in work in the 1920s and ’30s in Britain, the BBC was very open in its hiring practices and most of the time did not discriminate in terms of pay. Do you think this decision affected the staff at Savoy Hill and the nature of the programming the BBC offered? Note Hilda’s point that presenting informational programs like The Week in Westminster at 11:15 in the morning meant it would come on just as “women were having their tea.”

2. A great deal of politics surrounds the characters and life at the BBC. Hilda pushes for more political programming and quietly busies herself gathering Fascist—specifically Nazi—propaganda in the hopes of raising awareness about the growth of European Fascism. Hilda’s contact at the intelligence agency MI5 is dismissive of her concerns, noting that the Nazis are a fringe group. What parallels can be seen in politics today? What might Hilda and Maisie have done differently to try to raise awareness about Fascism, and how might they have had greater influence?

3. British society changed radically after the First World War, with more women seeking work and living in semiautonomy. Maisie and Phyllida recognize that women of their class and educational background would never have gotten professional work in an earlier era. As the class system slowly erodes, we see the factions represented by Hilda and Reith, with Reith upholding tradition and Hilda the voice of the progressive movement. What do you think it was in each of their personalities that prompted their stances?

4. Hilda sees radio as an opportunity to educate the public and is especially keen on having more books and poetry discussed on the radio, as well as presenting sociopolitical debates. Does media still serve an educational purpose today? How might media broaden understanding throughout society?

5. Women like Hilda Matheson and Mary Somerville, who were at the Director level, were allowed to marry, and Mary was an even rarer case of a working mother. Women with children were rarely allowed in the workplace in Britain in the 1920s and ’30s. How much have things changed for workingwomen today? What about working mothers?

6. Despite the fame of the Bloomsbury Group, and the general acknowledgment that many of the people working in arts and letters were gay, Hilda is quiet about her sexuality in general and closeted at work. Do you think she would have been as quiet about her personal life if Reith weren’t so particular about his staff’s “morals”? In the final explosion between Hilda and Reith, Maisie is given reason to think that he in fact might be a closeted gay man (an opinion shared by a number of historians). Do you think his being closeted affected his attitudes toward those around him?