THE CABLE CO-OP OF PALO ALTO ARCHIVE
The Media Center of Palo Alto
The formation of the
Cable Co-op of Palo Alto was a bold creation of a group
of
Palo Alto’s technological innovators and
political activists who made more headlines locally than most others could
ever hope to grab. In 1973 a member of the Food Co-op, Nancy Samelson, proposed
that a Cable Co-op get started, and by the spring of 1986, the new group won
the right to operate as a franchise from the City of Palo Alto. The ambitious
leadership set out to build a cable system which would provide a two way communication
system of locally controllable information, available to new members for $10.00.
In a town where no one wanted to publicly admit they watched TV, this hard
sell skyrocketed to a record membership roster in the 1990’s, as the
leaders of the Cable Co-op transformed the technological landscape.
Available
at the Media Center of Palo Alto is a comprehensive archive of primary sources
generated by the Board, the Staff and the members of the Cable Co-op
spanning the years of 1979 until the dissolution of the Cable Co-op in 2003,
which includes;
- collected minutes and agendas of the Board
- personal
notes, speeches and papers of the Board
- newsletters,
print media and promotional materials
- confidential
and public standing committee minutes
- special reports,
financial records
- City of Palo Alto Council Reports
pertaining to the Co-op
- Board election materials
- legal and bookkeeping
documents
- an extensive clippings file about the
Cable Co-op
- records of sales and sales proposals
- the legacy
gifts of the Cable Co-op
- DVD and VHS production
about the historic first 15 years
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