Mission

The National Radio Hall of Fame & Museum recognizes and showcases contemporary talent from today's diverse programming formats, as well as the pioneers who shaped the medium during its infancy.

History

The National Radio Hall of Fame & Museum has been created to commemorate the giants of a medium that has permeated American society for most of the 20th century. Radio's power has always depended upon diverse talents and many kinds of genius.

Taken together, the inductees into the National Radio Hall of Fame & Museum are more than technical geniuses and more than celebrities. They are part of a phenomenon that helped guide America.

Before radio, there was silence. Radio came first. Of all the electronic media that have made their indelible mark on the world, radio came with few precedents.

Radio personalized events, made them more intimate, more real. Radio engaged us emotionally and brought us closer together as a nation. Radio marked the first instant medium shared collectively by millions.

Radio has given us the freedom to use our imagination. Whether it enlightened, enraged or amused us, radio filtered through our individual sensibilities. Take the time and walk through the National Radio Hall of Fame & Museum and you'll realize that, while the way we listen and what we've heard has changed over the years, radio itself remains a constant and enduring force in our lives.

The New MBC

Preserving History & Protecting the Environment

One of only three broadcast history museums in the nation and home to America’s only Radio Hall of Fame. The four-level, 70,000-square-foot museum of television and radio history will be located at State and Kinzie Streets, right next door to Harry Caray’s Restaurant and the House of Blues Hotel. View location.

The new MBC will be a model energy-efficient museum and will provide five times as much space as the location in the Chicago Cultural Center, which closed in December 2003 in order for staff to focus on planning the new home.

The facility will allow the Museum to: serve a wide range of audiences; expand its collections; and increase exhibit and programming space.

On-site features will include:

• A two-story, glass-and-steel lobby atrium, a café, and a gift shop
• Over 15,000 square feet devoted to the exhibition of television and radio history
• State-of-the-art television and radio studios for hands-on experiences
• A media-equipped center for orientation and teaching
• A 12,000-square-foot space for the Museum’s public programs, screenings, and lectures
• A digitized archives and a Media Café designed for comfort.
  

The expanded facility will enable the Museum to accommodate an increased number of school groups and extend its educational outreach. The new facility will provide a range of educational spaces that are critical to the Museum’s mission.

75th Anniversary Salute to FDR

On July 2, 2007, the new Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago will present the 75th Anniversary Salute to FDR at the landmark Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.

Part of the public program will include FDR’s induction into America’s only National Radio Hall of Fame (NRHOF).

The program will also include actor Robert Vaughn portraying FDR and delivering his historic 1932 speech. That will be followed by analysis of the pivotal point in U.S. history from confirmed guests: Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter, author of The Defining Moment: FDR’s 100 Days and the Triumph of Hope, Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post columnist David Broder, Cynthia Koch , Director of the FDR Presidential Library, and syndicated columnist and NPR commentator Juan Williams. Other scholars, national political figures and media personalities have also been invited. Proceeds from the 75th Anniversary Salute to FDR will support the ongoing operations of the MBC, a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

Proceeds will also help create an online educational research tool on political communications, as well as an exhibit on media and politics in the new museum.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications

400 North State St., Suite 240

Chicago, IL 60610

(312) 245-8200

Visit The National Radio Hall of Fame and Museum website for more information