In 1938, an unprecedented collaboration between the Department of Interior, the Office of Education, CBS, WNYC, the Service Bureau for Inter-Cultural Education, and the Works Progress Administration brought forth one of the most artistically compelling productions in Old Time Radio history. Broadcast over CBS on Sunday afternoons from November 1938 through May 1939, and rebroadcast over WNYC in June 1939, this 24-episode series celebrated America's cultural diversity with a lofty tone that was—as Radio Guide Weekly noted—"not one whit less entertaining because of their solid educational content." Washington was "deluged" with congratulatory correspondence, and the series remains a remarkable example of government and network cooperation serving the public interest.
