Clive Meredith

Clive Burlingame Meredith (February 7, 1892 – April 11, 1932) was an American radio engineer and radio station owner. Meredith served as the founding owner and operator of WSYR-AM, the second oldest radio station in Syracuse, New York.[1] He also assisted the Federal Radio Commission with the developing a means to reduce electromagnetic interference between radio stations.[2]

Early life and education

Meredith was born to Eugene Meredith and Gertrude Burlingame Meredith in Syracuse. He was a grandson of diplomat Anson Burlingame[3] and a cousin of author Roger Burlingame. Meredith graduated from the Morristown School (now Morristown-Beard School) in Morristown, New Jersey in 1910.[4] He then attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1910 to 1913. Meredith later participated in the Harvard Club of New York.

Radio operations

On September 15, 1922, Meredith launched the first broadcast of WMAC, the precursor to WSYR, from his home in Cazenovia, New York. The broadcast featured music from nationally known harpist Melville Clark.[5] Meredith continued operating the station until 1928. In 1927, he devised a plan for unified control of carrier frequencies for radio stations; this plan informed work by the Federal Radio Commission to reduce electromagnetic interference.[2] The following year, Meredith organized WSYR's participation in a national wavelength synchronization experiment for the commission. WMAC partnered with four other stations: WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, KPRC-AM in Houston, Texas, WODA-AM in Paterson, New Jersey, and WGD-AM in New York City.[6]

Meredith also operated an amateur radio station named 8-AQO. In 1922, the station participated in a transatlantic test of the American Radio Relay League. It was one of 13 radio stations heard by listeners in both England and France.[7]

Military service during WWI

In 1917, Meredith attended the officers' training camp for the U.S. Army in Plattsburgh, New York. After he received a commission of second lieutenant in the infantry, he served at Fort Dix, a military facility near Trenton, New Jersey. In 1918, Meredith transferred to the 307th Machine Gun Battalion of the 78th Infantry Division. He later joined the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps as a second lieutenant and sailed for France to serve in World War I on February 26, 1918. Meredith served at the headquarters of the U.S. Army Air Service and then as an officer in charge of supply train.[8]

During the summer, Meredith returned to infantry. The U.S. Army detailed him to the headquarters of the 41st Division and then to the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division. Following the conclusion of World War I, Meredith served with the Army of Occupation during the Occupation of the Rhineland.[8]

Personal life

On October 4, 1913, Meredith married Alice Louise Abbott of Pelham Manor, New York, who was related to the Roosevelt family.[9] They divorced in 1914 and they both remarried.[10] His second wife was Jean Jeffrey Smedberg.

Meredith died in an Albany, New York hospital on April 11, 1932, after a car accident. According to reports, he was a passenger in a car struck by another car near Selkirk, New York, in the evening of April 10. Meredith was thrown from the vehicle and run over by a third car, suffering punctured lungs. He died the next morning in the hospital.[11][12]

References
  1. Hardin, Evamaria (1993). "South Side". Syracuse Landmarks: An AIA Guide to Downtown and Historic Neighborhoods. p. 284.
  2. "Key Station May Control Broadcasting; Commission Submits a Plan of Unified Control of Carrier Frequencies to Experts". The Baltimore Sun. The Associated Press. December 18, 1927.
  3. "Miss Alice Abbott to Wed". The New York Times. January 31, 1913.
  4. Harvard Freshman Red Book, Volume 1914. 1910. p. 40.
  5. Schramm, Henry W. (1987). Central New York: a pictorial history. p. 144.
  6. "FIVE STATIONS JOIN IN RADIO EXPERIMENT; Will Undertake to Synchronize on the Same Wave Length in Early Morning". The New York Times. June 30, 1928.
  7. "25 IN ENGLAND HEAR RADIO CALLS FROM HERE; 13 in France Also Report Reception of Signals From Americans in Big Test". The New York Times. December 14, 1922.
  8. Frederick Sumner Mead, ed. (1921). Harvard's Military Record in the World War. p. 654.
  9. "Miss Alice Abbott To Wed; Her Engagement to Clive B. Meredith Announced at a Luncheon". The New York Times. January 31, 1913. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  10. "Mrs. A. Meredith to Wed Alpheus M. Geer; Divorcee Engaged to Sponsor of Society Boxing Bouts, Who Is Also Divorced". The New York Times. May 6, 1921. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  11. "Syracuse Man Dies After Auto Smash". The Ithaca Journal. Associated Press. April 11, 1932. p. 1.
  12. "Meredith, Radio Station Owner, Fatally Hurt". The Kingston Daily Freeman. April 11, 1932. p. 1.
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