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Arnold Snyder papers
Notifications
Held at: Temple University Libraries Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]1210 Polett Walk, Philadelphia, PA, 19122
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Arnold Snyder was born in Philadelphia and attended Temple University, preparing for a career in journalism. Snyder worked as a news writer and producer at WTTM, ABC radio in Trenton, N.J., before joining ABC-TV News in 1955. Snyder covered the major news events of the 1960s and 1970s, and went on to design and implement STAIRS (Storage, Tracking, and lnformation Retrieval System), a system for organizing and accessing news footage on videotape.
The papers of this prominent news broadcaster are comprised primarily of videotapes, but also include correspondence, typescripts, news releases, and reports. The typescripts for a news show, "It Looks To Me," come primarily from 1953-1954 when Snyder worked for WTTM Radio in Trenton, N.J. The correspondence and press releases reflect Snyder's interest in politics, which includes press materials from the 1964 Democratic Convention. The collection also contains 426 3/4-inch videotapes from network news shows such as Nightline and PBS shows such as Nova, Frontline, and Bill Moyers Journal, 1981-1986. There is a videotape explaining STAIRS (Storage Text & Information Retrieval Systems), a library system initiated by Snyder for ABC News. The collection does not contain many materials associated with Snyder's prominent television career. The typescripts of Snyder's radio broadcasts focus on New Jersey politics and Cold War politics.
An inventory is available in the repository.
- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Date
- 2012
- Sponsor
- This collection-level EAD record is a product of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) Consortial Survey Initiative, which was funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.