This collection has no restrictions.
Single reproductions may be made for research purposes. It is the responsibility of the user to secure permission for publication or use from the appropriate copyright holder.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Florence Sando Manson Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Florence Sando Manson was born a few miles east of Pittsburgh in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1918. Manson remained in Western Pennsylvania for college, attending Westminster College on a full scholarship and graduating in 1939. She then enrolled at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where she earned a master's of arts in Drama in 1940.
After finishing her graduate program, Manson returned to Pittsburgh and started a career in broadcast journalism. Beginning in 1941, she covered news and hosted her own shows for local radio stations, such as WJAS, WCAE, and KQV. Her popular programs included "Everything Under the Sun," "Women's Digest," and "The Florence Sando Show," and she eventually became the Director of Women's Radio at WCAE.
Beginning in 1951, Manson started hosting television shows for the local network, WDTV, which became KDKA-TV in 1954. Alongside Dorothy Randall and Helen Rauh, Manson hosted "Ask the Girls," where the three women responded to questions from viewers. In addition, she hosted "Women's Digest" and "The Florence Manson Show," the latter of which served as a spinoff from her radio program, "The Florence Sando Show." Manson married film executive Arthur Manson in 1953, and the two remained married for 60 years. The Mansons had two children, Cynthia and Anthony.
When Manson wasn't on the air, she was often performing in shows at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, she acted in several productions, including
Manson died on November 25, 2013 from complications connected to dementia. She died at her home in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. She was 95.
The collection contains the papers of Florence Sando Manson and, in the main, relates to her career as a broadcast journalist in Pittsburgh, as represented by Series I-II. The series are arranged thematically and correspond to Manson's careers in radio, television, and acting. There is a small final series that relates to Manson's personal life, which includes clippings about her marriage to Arthur Manson, articles about her extended family, portraits, and additional written material.
The bulk of the collection relates to Manson's career in broadcast journalism, which spanned from 1941 through 1959. The collection contains episode scripts, clippings, advertisements, photographs, and correspondence related to her various radio and television shows on KQV, WCAE, WJAS and WDTV, which turned into KDKA-TV in 1954. Series III, which documents Manson's acting career in Pittsburgh, contains show programs, clippings, and photographs.
This collection is arranged in four series and several subseries.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least five business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection was processed by Sophia Scanlan (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2030). Finding aid written by Sophia Scanlan in July 2025.
The collection was reboxed, refoldered, and relabeled. Order was imposed to organize materials by career (e.g. radio, television, acting) rather than strictly by item type. Duplicate documents were weeded out.
No additions are expected.
This series includes episode scripts, newspaper coverage, advertisements, correspondence, and photographs related to Manson's career as a radio journalist on a variety of stations in Pittsburgh, including WCAE and WJAS. Manson hosted a number of shows, among them "Everything Under the Sun," "Women's Digest," and "The Florence Sando Show."
This subseries contains scripts for "Everything Under the Sun," "Women's Digest," "The Florence Sando Show," and other miscellaneous shows and episodes. The subseries also contains a folder of partial scripts that could not be identified. Scripts for Manson's television shows can be found in Subseries II.1.
Fragmented scripts from miscellaneous radio shows.
This subseries includes newspaper advertisements and articles about Manson's radio shows.
This subseries contains photographs of Manson reporting on-air and interviewing guests on her radio shows.
This subseries contains a few letters between Manson and station officials.
This subseries includes awards, certificates, network schedules, and other miscellaneous documents pertaining to Manson's career in radio.
Guide Post Award (or the best Pittsburgh Woman on Television (1952) and Westminster College Achievement Citation (undated)
Contains network schedules, breakfast program, and a few other miscellaneous documents.
During the 1950s, Manson hosted a variety of television programs on WDTV, a station owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting Company that turned into KDKA-TV in 1954. Programs, press coverage, photographs, and correspondence related to Manson's shows—especially "Ask the Girls," "Women's Angle," and "The Florence Manson Show" are included in this series.
This subseries primarily contains episode scripts for "Women's Angle." Scripts for Manson's radio shows can be found in Subseries I.1. Also included is a lacquer disc of the theme song for "The Florence Sando Show." The disc is located in a flatbox.
Lacquer disc of theme song for "Florence Manson Show." Two slides taped onto disc.
This subseries includes advertisements and articles about Manson's television programs, "Ask the Girls," "Women's Angle," and "The Florence Manson Show." Most articles and ads appear in local newspapers, such as the
Includes a KDKA-TV program log.
Short articles by Manson that end with advertisements for "Ask the Girls" on WDTV
This subseries includes primarily glossy photographs of Manson hosting television shows. Several images depict Manson on the set for "Ask the Girls," a show she hosted with two other women panelists. The subseries also contains one small negative slide.
This subseries contains a handful of letters to Manson from viewers and network officials.
In addition to covering the news, Manson also enjoyed acting. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Manson performed in a variety of shows at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, among them
Includes programs from Post Road, Mrs. Moonlight, Strange Bedfellows, Fifty Grand, and No, No, Nanette.
Aside from 1950-1953 clippings, includes article from 1980 about a Pittsburgh Playhouse reunion.
This series contains material related to Manson's personal life, including her family and her marriage to Arthur Manson. The subseries also holds biographical material, such as obituaries, photographs (including glossy and negative portraits), and other writings about Manson.
This subseries includes press coverage of Florence Sando and film executive Arthur Manson's wedding in January 1953. Also included are clippings about the birth of Cynthia Manson in August 1956, and additional news articles mentioning Manson's extended family.
Several articles about Manson's engagement and wedding to Arthur.
Includes articles about the birth of Manson's daughter, Cynthia.
This bulk of this subseries includes clippings about Manson's appearances in the Greater Pittsburgh area between 1942 and 1957, including the annual Easter Parades and other events. Also included in this subseries is a copy of Lynn Boyd Hinds' 1995 book,
Writings about Manson's radio or television shows can be found in Subseries I.2 or Subseries II.2, respectively. Clippings about Manson's performances at the Pittsburgh Playhouse can be found in Series III.
Several articles mentioning Manson's participation in Pittsburgh's annual Easter Parades.
Manson's copy of Broadcasting the Local News: The Early Years of Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV by Lynn Boyd Hinds (1995)
This subseries includes several glossy portraits and negatives of Manson, some of which she used as headshots to accompany resumes. In addition, the subseries contains photographs of Manson in groups or with unidentified individuals. One oversized photograph, which shows Manson at the Easter Parade in 1956, is housed away from the rest of the subseries in a flatbox.
Includes some negatives.
This subseries contains a selection of obituaries following Manson's death in 2013. Included among them are obituaries published in the