Remembering Chet Curtis

[caption id="attachment2218" align="alignleft" width="264"] Chet Curtis reporting on newly installed Archbishop Medeiros. Watch the <a href="http://bostonlocaltv.org/catalog/BPL6HXIZIURTZRU5XL">full story.[/caption]

The local Boston TV news landscape lost a major figure Wednesday with the passing of Chet Curtis. Known for his work as a WCVB and NECN anchor, Curtis actually started his broadcasting career at WHDH Channel-5 before it was relaunched as WCVB. As the home of the WHDH Channel 5 newsfilm archive, the Boston TV News Digital Library is happy to be able to share some of Curtis' early work.

Among the stories we have already digitized is this 1970 piece on the passing of the torch from Cardinal Cushing to Medeiros, who gives a speech on his installation as the Archbishop of Boston. Check out Curtis' report on this landmark Boston event here. Additionally, we have this fascinating look at some Earth Day demonstrations. Wrapping up his report, John Henning introduces Curtis, who is on the scene with Graham Jr. College students who are smashing a car with baseball bats.

[caption id="attachment2219" align="alignright" width="300"] Chet Curtis on the scene of Earth Day demonstration. Watch the <a href="http://bostonlocaltv.org/catalog/BPLR0ACXPNMIFXN04U">full story.[/caption]

On our list of items waiting for digitization, are almost 80 stories reported by Curtis from WHDH and WCVB collections. And those are just the ones that are clearly marked. Among the more mysteriously labeled cans, I'm positive there's a wealth of even more Curtis stories. If you're interested in viewing any of these items, contact us about sponsoring the preservation, and we'll post it online for free streaming access.