Marshall Ensor, W9BSP, accepts the 1940 Paley Award in NYC
It was a special occasion indeed that took Marshall Ensor, W9BSP, and his sister Loretta, W9UA, to New York City in June of 1941, and it is the remembering of that special occasion that will bring members of the club to Ensor Park and Museum Saturday, June 5, for a special event on the grounds of the eight-acre complex in south Olathe.
Members of both our club and the Johnson County Radio Amateurs Club will be gathering at Ensor early next month to mark the 80th anniversary of the presentation of the Paley Award for 1940 to Ensor. During this special 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. event, hams will be exploring the airways in an effort to work as many stations as possible in celebrating Ensor's "15 minutes of fame," as they say, four score years earlier. Meanwhile, a trunk sale will be in progress nearby, affording hams the chance to acquire everything from additional equipment to reading material. Those planning to sell items from the trunk of a vehicle or a table are being encouraged to make a donation in recognition of the opportunity they have been given, with the money received to go first to the club to cover half the cost of the Porta Potty that is to be rented, then to the Marshall Ensor Memorial Organization.
As W9BSP, club hams will be operating on three bands, 20 meters, 30 meters and 40 meters, and using two modes, CW and voice, at Ensor. They will encounter atmospheric conditions favorable for good propagation, it is hoped, but at any rate, regardless of the 'disposition' of forces beyond their control, this special event will serve as a "dry run," so to speak, for Field Day the fourth weekend in June, June 26 and 27, when hams will be testing their readiness for activation and service in a real emergency over a 24-hour period.
Ensor got his "15 minutes of fame" the afternoon of Monday, June 2, 1941, when the Paley Award, named for Columbia Broadcasting System President William S. Paley, was given to him during a luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. According to the CBS Program Book for June 1941 (and thank you for locating this item for me, Marty Peters, KE0PEZ), exactly 15 minutes were set aside for the presentation of the award to Ensor, who caught a TWA stratoliner to "the Big Apple" for the grand affair accompanied by his sister.
Here is how the Eastern time zone entry listed under "Special Events" read: "William S. Paley Amateur Radio Award - 2:30-2:45 p.m. Monday, June 2 - From the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria in New York the CBS audience will hear Kansas school teacher Marshall H. Ensor receive the coveted William S. Paley Amateur Radio Award for 1940 from Mr. Paley, president of the Columbia Broadcasting System."
In a story that was published in the June 3, 1941, issue of the Manchester (Conn.) Evening Herald (and thank you again, Marty, for locating this item for me), it was noted that Ensor was the fourth recipient of the Paley Award (and he would be the last 'thanks' to World War II and the changed-forever world that would emerge from it on the other side of the conflict), and that the three previous winners of the award, W.E. Burgess, Robert Anderson and Walter Stiles, also were on hand for the presentation ceremony.
Incidentally, in a story that was published in the May 22, 1941, issue of The Olathe Mirror, it was reported that CBS had extended an invitation to attend the luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria to "Olathe's other favorite son," film star Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and that Rogers had been a pupil of Ensor "for some special work for a few weeks while in high school."
Headlined "Paley Award Goes To Kansas Amateur," a feature article in a 1941 issue of the magazine Radio & Television News (thank you once again, Marty) noted that the Paley Award, "a symbolic sculpture in silver," is given "to that individual who, through amateur radio, in the opinion of an impartial Board of Awards, has contributed most usefully to the American people, either in research, technical development or operating achievement, and to be open to all amateur radio operators in the United States and Canada."
In Ensor's case, with some capable assistance from his sister from time to time, he earned the award by teaching radio by radio to thousands of other Americans over a period of more than a decade, thus equipping many people with valuable skills that would serve them well in the military or the private sector later. In fact, the American Radio Relay League estimated that Ensor had voluntarily taught radio to more individuals than anyone else in the United States had, this being the result, of course, of a steadfast commitment on his part to the important task at hand.
The Ensor siblings' trip to the East Coast, which included a stop in Hartford, Conn., for an ARRL luncheon, was preceded by a dinner May 27 at the Hotel Olathe sponsored by the Olathe Chamber of Commerce and open to the general public. "A crowd of 150 persons" showed up for the event on the courthouse square in downtown Olathe, The Mirror reported on May 29, a group that included John Hartley, the mayor of Olathe, and Leon Harris, who worked in the TWA radio maintenance department in Kansas City, Mo., and was a charter member of Ensor's first radio club (1921).
Harris addressed the attendees at one point, mentioning four men who had received radio instruction from Ensor and were profitably using the skills they had acquired from him in either the military or the private sector, Harlan Harper, Harry Buchholtz, Robert Bickels and Floyd Martin. "These men, without exception, can credit their start in this industry to Marshall Ensor," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. "His vision foresaw the coming need of a knowledge of radio."