Griffin Communications Donates Tapes To OK Historical Society

Oklahoma's Own Griffin Communications donates nearly 50 years of Oklahoma state history to the Oklahoma Historical Society.

The donation includes more than 30,000 tapes of Oklahoma history. Most of the footage featured in the collection was produced by News 9 broadcast journalists in Oklahoma City and News on 6 journalists in Tulsa, but it also contains archives from other media entities owned or operated by the Griffin family from the past 50 years.

This footage represents a real-time, eyewitness account of important historic events as they were unfolding across the state.

"Our family has been involved in the Oklahoma broadcasting business since the beginning. First, when my father launched KTUL radio in Tulsa, and then when he purchased KOMA radio in Oklahoma City," said David Griffin, chairman and CEO of Griffin Communications. "With the launch of KWTV in 1953, he continued to be an Oklahoma broadcast pioneer. We grew up with a sense of history instilled in us at a very young age and feel very strongly about the donation of our archives to the historical society and OKPOP."

To preserve the images and create a finder's guide to individual scenes, the Oklahoma Historical Society will transfer the tapes to digital format and create systems where museum visitors can interact and view the collection.

The footage will be made public at the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture in downtown Tulsa. With approval of a $42.5 million bond issue by the Legislature, the OKPOP Museum could open as early as 2017.

Watch a selection of video clips from the Griffin Communications donation!