Herbert Morrison | |
|---|---|
 Morrison in the 1930s | |
| Born | (1905-05-14)May 14, 1905 Scottdale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 10, 1989(1989-01-10) (aged 83) Morgantown, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Occupation | Radio and television journalist |
| Known for | His radio broadcast of theHindenburg disaster |
Herbert "Herb" Morrison (May 14, 1905 – January 10, 1989) was an American journalist who reported on theHindenburg disaster. His dramatic reaction to theairship's fiery collapse, later broadcast byNBC, has since become a lasting symbol of the tragedy and is regarded as one of the most famous radio broadcasts in history.
Hailing fromPennsylvania, Morrison joined theWLS radio station around the 1930s. When theHindenburg, a prominent airship, was set to conclude its maiden U.S. trip of 1937 inLakehurst, he was sent there to report on its planned landing. He brought with him experimental recording equipment. As the airship neared thelanding ground, it burst in flames, and Morrison's report turned deeply emotional. He hyperventilated and choked up, crying, "Oh, the humanity" out of grief for the lives lost.
Morrison's report first aired on WLS, and parts of it later featured on NBC. Never before had NBC broadcast a recording: an exception was made for Morrison's owing to its raw, passionate recounting of the event. Millions around the world eventually heard it. The broadcast is partially credited with increasing awareness of—indeed, popularizing—theHindenburg disaster to an extent not attained by other contemporary calamities. Noting Morrison's efforts, the historian Anna Accettola recognizes the disaster as a "poignant moment" in the "evolution of media reporting."[1]
Morrison's work as a journalist continued for several decades. His broadcast influenced the production ofOrson Welles' radio drama "The War of the Worlds" and the 1975 filmThe Hindenburg.
Little is known about Morrison's early life. A native ofScottdale, Pennsylvania,[2] he was born on May 14, 1905.[a] He graduated from high school in 1923. His career in journalism began inFairmont, and he later became aradio reporter forPittsburgh stations.[4]
In May 1937, theairshipHindenburg was set to fly fromFrankfurt toLakehurst.[5] Commissioned the year prior inNazi Germany, it was the largest aircraft ever built at the time of completion.[6] The Lakehurst flight—its 63rd one[7]—would mark the commencement its 1937 season in the United States[8] as well as the one-year anniversary of thetransatlantic service's opening,[9] hencewhy outlets deemed it newsworthy.[10]
Morrison was then a 31-year-old reporter forChicago'sWLS station,[2] anNBC affiliate.[11] Following a request fromAmerican Airlines, he flew to Lakehurst to report on theHindenburg landing.[12] He had petitioned WLS for permission to bring novel recording apparatus to test during the report: a Presto Direct Disc transcription recorder[13] along with an amplifier and a heavy-dutylathe.[8] Recording was an unorthodox media practice at the time, but WLS nonetheless gave their assent.[14] Morrison would be the only broadcaster present at Lakehurst to cover theHindenburg's landing;[15] the WLS sound engineer Charles Nehlsen accompanied him.[16] Upon arriving, the two settled in a shack on the edge of thelanding field.[17]
On May 6, theHindenburg was nearing Lakehurst,[18] and Morrison began recording.[19] His plan was to comment on the landing, then edit the broadcast and play it back on a Saturday WLS radio program.[20] While on its way to Lakehurst, poor weather conditions delayed the airship's arrival by several hours.[21] Morrison's report began professionally:[9]
It's starting to rain again—the rain had slacked up a little bit. The back motors of the ship are just holding it just enough to keep it from...[22]
At 7:21 pm, it started preparing to land. Four minutes later, theHindenburg caught fire, and it sank to the landing ground engulfed in flames.[23] It disintegrated within less than a minute.[24] 35 of the 97 people aboard and one person on the ground died.[25] As he witnessed the disaster unfold, Morrison's tone immediately changed:[9]
It burst into flames! Get this Charlie![b] Get this Charlie! It's burning and it's crashing! It's crashing terrible! Oh my, get out of the way, please! It's burning and bursting into flames and it's—and it's falling on themooring mast, and all the folks agree that this is terrible, this is one of the worst catastrophes in the world! And oh, it's... the flames, climbing, oh, four or five hundred feet into the sky, and… It's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. The smoke and it's flames now, and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring mast. Oh, the humanity and all the passengers screaming around here. I told you. It's—I can't even talk to people whose friends were on there. It—It's... ah! I—I can't talk, ladies and gentlemen. Honest, it's just laying there, a mass of smoking wreckage, Ah! And everybody can't hardly breathe and talk, and the screaming… Lady, I—I—I'm sorry. Honestly, I—I can hardly breathe. I—I'm gonna step inside where I cannot see it… Charlie, that's terrible. I—I can't... I, listen folks, I—I'm gonna have to stop for a minute because I've lost my voice, this is the worst thing I've ever witnessed.[22]
Morrison lost his composure;[4] he hyperventilated, choked up, and momentarily lost his voice[13] as his professional commentary gave way to an emotional outpour.[26] However, he quickly recovered and went on to report on the disaster for 37 minutes over the next two hours.[8] He interviewed witnesses and survivors of theHindenburg's collapse[27] and even identified some of them by name.[8] Dan Grossman of Airships.net remarks that "while early news reports of air crashes are infamous for their inaccuracy even today, Morrison accurately described the facts that were known."[8] He notes that Morrison deduced the explosion to static electricity owing to the stormy weather that day,[8] which scholars now recognize as the likeliest cause of the disaster,[27] although it is still not fully understood.[28][c] After the disaster, popular airship travel died out.[25][d]
Morrison's full report was recorded on fouracetate disks.[32] When he and Nehlsen finished their work, Nazi officials started following them[33] in hopes of retrieving the disks to prevent the report from airing, fearing that it would tarnish the regime's image.[10] They managed to escape and fly back to Chicago safely.[34] The next day, May 7, Morrison's commentary aired on WLS, and an excerpt was later broadcast onNBC Red;[35] it was never heard live.[36] This was the first time a recording was broadcast on NBC.[35] At the time, events were mostly either covered live or by telephone,[14] and NBC had prohibited airing recordings in favor of live reports, which were considered more authentic and reliable.[35] However, they made an exception for Morrison's because, as Michael McCarthy explains, theHindenburg report was an "exclusive, red-hot eyewitness account of the calamity" like no other.[13] In fact, his broadcast of the disaster was the only one.[11] Still, NBC's practice was upheld untilWorld War II.[35]
The report was eventually distributed worldwide[37] and heard by millions.[38] His dramatic, emotional reaction to theHindenburg's collapse[39]—his agony palpable[36]—garnered the most attention[8] and is noted to have struck a chord with listeners.[40] In McCarthy's words, "The public had never heard such a raw, shocking account of an eyewitness plunged in a blink of an eye into an unfolding catastrophe. It was spellbinding."[13] He additionally suggests that Morrison's reaction is the first viral audio.[13] "Oh, the humanity," a phrase Morrison uttered out of sorrow for the disaster's victims,[9] is now deemed a cultural and popular symbol,[41] so much so that Anna Accettola remarks that it is commonly used as a generic expression of horror.[1] He later recalled having exclaimed those words under the assumption that everyone aboard theHindenburg had died,[9] when in fact 62 people survived.[5]
Since then, the report has become one of the most famous radio broadcasts.[42] Beyond its fame, Morrison's broadcast shaped public sentiment regarding dirigible travel. As notes Carl Jablonski, theHindenburg disaster was one of the first to be documented just as it happened,[43] with cameras and recording appartus present on-site to capture it in real time.[44] This was not the case with many previous disasters,[45] such as the deadlier crash of theUSS Akron.[5] While these calamities, of which no footage or recording exist, remained largely unwitnessed,[45] theHindenburg's became a "global media phenomenon"[45] and "one of the biggest news stories of the 20th century."[36]
In fact, Morrison's report has been described as "the public's most enduring memory of the crash";[8] some journalists note that it has now become synonymous with the calamity.[46] Years later, footage of theHindenburg disaster were paired together with the recording.[47] His emotional delivery inspired one actor inOrson Welles' radio drama "The War of the Worlds", who studied the recording to craft a hysterical reaction to witnessing a ghastly event.[13]
Morrison's voice is a subject of note to commentators. Many experts argue that the recording disks ran too slow, causing the broadcast to run abnormally quickly when played back[48]—according to audio historian Michael Biel, by a minimum factor of three percent.[32] Thus, his voice is made to sound high-pitched, when it was actually deep and mellow.[49]
Morrison's media career continued for several decades. He left WLS in 1939 to joinMutual.[33] Years after hisHindenburg report, he became the first news director atWTAE-TV, based inPittsburgh.[2] Morrison later became afreelance journalist.[50] After developing a radio and television section atWest Virginia University, he retired from his trade.[51]
A pilot and aviation enthusiast,[8] Morrison served in theArmy Air Forces duringWorld War II.[2] He also ran forCongress thrice in the 1950s from Pennsylvania as aRepublican.[14] In 1975,Universal Studios sent him across the U.S. to promote the filmHindenburg,[4] which featured an excerpt of his broadcast.[10]
In old age, he lived with his wife, Mary Jane, inMorgantown, West Virginia.[50] Achronic illness eventually led him to be admitted to a Morgantown nursing home.[4] He died there on January 10, 1989, at age 83.[52]
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