First radio transmitter, 1922. On December 7, 1922, Oregon Agricultural College was granted a license to begin broadcasting radio station KFDJ. Physics Professor Jacob Jordan (second from left, holding the microphone) built the radio transmitter for the College's first 50-watt station as a lab experiment.

KFDJ program schedule, 1925. In October 1925, the college radio service was officially dedicated and this leaflet was prepared and distributed to a selected list of radio receiver owners. Regular hours of broadcasting were established on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings from 7:30 to 9:00. Special broadcasts of college convocations, athletic contests, and other events were also offered.

OAC Little Orchestra in the radio studio, 1925. On Friday evenings from 8 to 9 o'clock, a musical program was broadcast live from the KFDJ studio, located on the third floor of the Administration Building (now Benton Hall). The room was acoustically treated with burlap to provide a high quality broadcast. The studio was connected to the transmitter in nearby Apperson Hall by underground cable. Wallace L. Kadderly (far right) was both station announcer and program director. Photograph by John Garman.

KOAC student announcer, 1929. Gustave Y. ("Gus") Hagglund, an OAC senior in agriculture, adjusts the dials and prepares to announce radio programs on a November evening in 1929. Hagglund assisted with the farm programs, which were a mainstay of the station's programming, and was agriculture and radio editor for the Oregon State Monthly. KOAC was an invaluable laboratory for students in speech, dramatics, radio script writing, radio engineering, and journalism.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• KOAC Radio Milestones
• Images: The 1920s
• Images: The 1930s
• Images: The 1940s
• Images: The 1950s