Throughout
his time at Lehigh University Quirk championed art and its appreciation on
campus as well as the broader community. He brought many prominent and cutting edge artists
to campus for exhibitions, participated in exhibitions and supported local art
competitions. But, perhaps one of his most far reaching efforts to spread art
appreciation would be through his involvement in television.
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| Philadelphia Families Enjoy Francis Quirk on Television on Friday Nights |
Through
our ongoing research effort we obtained information on his hosting several programs:
· Art and I WGLV WGPA 1956-1957
· Its Happening There WGLV WGPA 1957
·
These
Our Own (American Art) WFIL 1955
·
You
Should Know What You Like WFIL Philadelphia
1954-55
The
first broadcast television came out of Schenectady, New York in 1928 from a
General Electric facility. Television really began in 1950 when CBS was
licensed to form a national network. In 1954, the first color television broadcast
was made of Pasadena’s Rose Parade, but the sets were too expensive and did not
enter the main stream until the mid-1960’s. During that period, most broadcast
programming was in black and white during that time, so a color set was of
little benefit.
Quirk
was active in the early days, when the broadcasts were live. The comedian-TV-pioneer
Milton Berle broadcast from 1948-1956. So, Quirk had to present well and think
on his feet. The fact that he put on multiple programs in a significant market indicates that he had a
reasonable to high level of proficiency. While we cannot substantiate it, we think it
is highly likely that Quirk also prepared his own material as well.
Below we share the image of the 1956 story in Lehigh University's Brown and White Student Newspaper.
