Come Celebrate 120th Anniversary of Historic Radio Transmission on November 15

On Nov 15, 2025, the presidents of King’s College and The University of Scranton will join the mayors of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre to celebrate Rev. Joseph Murgas—the local priest, artist, botanist, and scientist who pioneered the initial stages of wireless communication—and the 50th anniversary of the Murgas Amateur Radio Club named in his honor.

The event, which was organized in partnership with the Slovak Heritage Society of NEPA, celebrates the November 1905 public unveiling of the “Tone Method,” a wireless communication system capable of transmitting voice and sound over long distances that was developed and patented by Father Murgas. The test included a series of messages exchanged between Father Murgas; then Wilkes-Barre Mayor Frederick C. Kirkendall, then Scranton Mayor Alex T. Connell; and Rev. Michael John Hoban, a former bishop of the Diocese of Scranton.

At 1 p.m. on Nov. 15, 2025, Mayor George C. Brown and Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti will recreate that transmission with King’s College president Rev. Thomas P. Looney, C.S.C., Ph.D., and The University of Scranton president Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., Ph.D.

King’s College and The University of Scranton will hold simultaneous celebrations from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. that are free and open to the public. King’s College will transmit from the Richard Abbas Alley Center for Health Sciences on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Guests can also enjoy refreshments while they visit the Alley Center’s Rev. Joseph Murgas Room, which showcases his paintings, butterfly collection, wireless broadcasting work, and his priestly vestments.

Meanwhile, The University of Scranton will transmit from its W3USR amateur radio station with a public showing of the event in the PNC Auditorium inside the Loyola Science Center. After the reenactment, attendees will be invited upstairs to the W3USR station to operate the radios and enjoy refreshments. An exhibit is also currently on display—covering Father Murgas, the Murgas Amateur Radio Club, W3USR, and HamSCI—in the Loyola Science Center’s second-floor display cases.