Guide to the Warner Cable Reston videotape collection, 1971-1997

Warner Cable Reston videotape C0139

Historical Information

Reston is a planned community in Northern Virginia. Robert E. Simon, Jr. was the founder of Reston, he purchased the land with the proceeds from the sale of Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1961. Cable came to Reston in the 1970s and featured 14 channels, the local Washington and Baltimore channels and a channel or two devoted to local weather and community programming. From the mid-70s through the mid-90s, the system was owned by Warner Cable (and, for a while, under the Warner-Amex name). Under Warner, the system capacity was expanded to 80 channels.

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Scope and Content

The collection is comprised of programming generated by Warner Cable Communications regarding Reston, Virginia, and aired on the Warner Cable Community Access Channel. Some of these productions were made under contract with various groups, such as Reston Association, Reston Homeowners Association, and Reston Players.

Series one is the only series in this small collection. The series includes a variety of different programs that were recorded onto 3/4 videotape cassettes. Some of the programs include, Reston Association elections and meetings. Others contain special programs about Reston, such as "A Place Called Reston" that aired in 1979.

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Arrangement

Organized into one series.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

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Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Planned Community Archives and other personal papers and organizational records that document Reston, Virginia and other planned communities.

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Index Terms

Corporate Names:

Geographical Names:

Subjects:

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Warner Cable Reston Videotape Collection, Collection #C0139, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Warner Cable Communications of Reston, Virginia, in June of 1989.

Processing Information

The Warner Cable Reston videotapes collection was originally attached to the larger Planned Community Collection currently in the Special Collections Research Center. Beginning in 2008 the videos from Warner Cable Reston Videotapes were removed and organized into a separate collection still housed in the Special Collections Research Center at George Mason University Libraries. The old box and folder numbers for each folder are also included as part of the new arrangement.

Processed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. EAD markup completed by Emily Martin in December 2008.

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Contents List