1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000

The Education Services History Timeline is part of the history of WSBE Rhode Island PBS, a senior internship project, researched and written by Daisy Garcia, URI '06, under the supervision of Dr. Maria del Pilar Velasquez, Director of Rhode Island PBS Education Services.

RI State Board of Education applies to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to be granted a license with restrictions to operate on channel 36 as Rhode Island's educational public television station.

The station is given call letters, WSBE-TV. Television stations in the United States stations located east of the Mississippi are assigned the prefix "W," and stations west of the Mississippi are assigned the letter "K," with a few exceptions. "SBE" stands for State Board of Education, establishing WSBE as one of the pioneers of the educational public broadcasting service.

Passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965 gives universities with educational media potential the opportunity to receive federal grants and faculty training to further expand their capabilities.

Rhode Island College and WSBE-TV team up and are granted a federal aid package to develop production studios and other educational media.

President Lyndon Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing the Corporation of Public Broadcasting as a funding vehicle for educational public broadcasting stations. Rhode Island Senator John O. Pastore, considered the father of Public Television, is present at the signing as the Senate floor manager.

With the assistance and vision of Robert Danilowicz, Rhode Island College (RIC) becomes a pioneer and innovator of closed-circuit educational television in classrooms across the state.

The existing infrastructure and studios at RIC make it a good place to host the new television station. Because of the pioneering success of WRIC-CCTV, Robert Danilowicz is selected to be the first general manager of the station. In May, WSBE-TV airs for the first time from Rhode Island College, behind the Adams Library. The transmitter is located in Johnston. The facilities are so small, however, that master control and video switches are within arm's reach. There are two GE cameras for black and white programming and two AMPEX VR1100 videotape machines that can be used for programming, but not for editing.

September 28th - Channel 36 offers a televised course to viewers who want to receive their high school equivalency certificate. Programming includes a 12-week course in five curriculum areas in preparation for high school equivalency test given by the Rhode Island State Agency for Elementary and Secondary Education.

Channel 36 covers high school regular season sports and Super Bowl championships, CCRI and Bryant Basketball, and Brown University and Providence College Hockey.

Picture to the left - The broadcast team, cameras, and equipment at the Hendricken Game. The play-by-play action was handled by Tom Shola.

GED-ON-TV series begins airing on Channel 36, allowing high school drop outs to complete requirements for a high school equivalency certificate. Famous Amos, national spokesman for literacy, is the invited guest speaker for the first graduation ceremony, telecast live.

PBS receives a grant from the Annenberg Foundation to produce the Telecourse program. Telecourses are short courses that provide college credit for students at CCRI, RIC and URI. Gerald Fontaine is named the Telecourse Coordinator at CCRI, and John Sousa becomes the Dean of Off-Campus Credit Programs. Beginning with seven or eight courses, the major subject areas offered were English, math, economics, history, French, business, sociology, history and psychology. At-home college schooling becomes very popular; Rhode Island has the highest per capita utilization in the country.

Channel 36 becomes one of the first two stations in the nation to provide Internet access to classrooms and teachers through "Learning Link," developed by WNET for public TV.

Very shortly after, Channel 36 becomes the first of two stations to offer a toll free website accessible to teachers, with hundreds of hyperlinks to educational resources. Channel 36 becomes the 4th Web site on the World Wide Web to offer such a service to educators.

Our Great Kids! debuts. Philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein recognizes the inspiring good deeds performed by schoolchildren statewide in this weekly 8-10 minute program.

December - Digital equipment arrives.

September: The Education Services Department offers a special CD edition of the 2006-2007 Instructional Television Program Guide offering 1-2 minute ONLINE PREVIEWS of K-12 curriculum-based and adult education programs, broadcast weekdays during school hours. All curriculum-based and adult education programs are closed-caption to support access of persons with hearing disabilities.

Rhode Island PBS prepares to celebrate
its 40th Anniversary in 2007!

Special thanks to the following sources:
Walter Covell, Robert Danilowicz, Susan Farmer, Peter Frid, John Gavis, Joan Isserlis, Robert Knott, and David Marseglia.

All photographs are the property of Rhode Island PBS and its archives. Photos cannot be used or reproduced without express written permission of Rhode Island PBS. All rights reserved.