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Barb Nielsen & "News 8 Throwback" Preserving San Diego’s History in Film
By Ann Jarmusch
May/June 2024
 News 8’s Archives Editor Barb Nielsen cradles a canister of precious reels containing historic San Diego stories about people, places, and events. She scours storage rooms for cataloged film and video footage that without her dedication and news sense probably would never have been unspooled and re-aired as “Throwbacks.” |
 Remember library card catalogs? Barb used this kind of paper trail, which the station created in 1952, to navigate its thousands of historic reports and features when she was hired in pre-Internet 1989. By 1991, the station switched from the card catalog to computerized archival searches. Both photos courtesy CBS 8 |
You’ve probably had some of your personal memories confirmed or challenged by watching “News 8 Throwback” on San Diego’s CBS affiliate, features produced by Barb Nielsen. Drawn from the station’s well organized, comprehensive archives, “Throwback” transports viewers to pivotal moments in San Diego's history that form a dynamic mosaic of local life, people, adventures, happenings, triumphs, and tragedies, from archives kept since 1952.
May 16, 2024 marks the station’s 75th anniversary, and SOHO salutes Barb and colleagues for their archival and storytelling skills via “Throwback,” which delivers key episodes in historic preservation to screens large and small. On May 16, 1949, KFMB-TV (CBS 8’s official call letters) debuted as San Diego’s first TV station. It is the only station in San Diego that has saved virtually all film and tape shot locally—a treasure trove of San Diego history waiting to be uncovered.
In July 2018, Barb’s “Throwback” proposal to repackage and re-air crucial stories, thematic compilations, and history-making or novelty tapes from past years, was greenlit. This expanded her duties as a full-time news editor and added the title archives editor.
What makes this pre-Internet archive truly indispensable and what caught our eye is its documentation of San Diego's historic landmarks, some long gone, and others preserved through the efforts of SOHO. From the battles fought and won to protect gems like the Horton Grand Hotel, Balboa Park, and the Gaslamp Quarter and the triumphs of many of SOHO’s other successful preservation campaigns, “Throwback” showcases the resilience of a community dedicated to honoring its past, while also providing invaluable insights into the events that have shaped the county’s identity.
One black-and-white “Throwback” video shows San Diego houses being transported to Tijuana by truck, as an intrepid mover clings to one home’s roof to monitor the road, traffic, and utility wires. A breezy, colorful compilation takes viewers inside several palatial homes owned by families among San Diego’s 1 percent. The late Larry Himmel, a popular, longtime master of several beats on CBS 8 and perhaps Barb’s favorite reporter-raconteur, left us myriad reports. Among these are the preservation of Belmont Park’s 1925 Giant Dipper and a revealing night club crawl. We can also revisit News 8's John Culea on the first efforts to save the Horton Grand in downtown San Diego, and Loren Nancarrow, when he reported that the hotel might be saved but moved.
Barb relies on collector, archivist, and musician Pea Hicks for essential digitizing of film and tape. She found Hicks through Gregory May’s “Vintage San Diego” Facebook group. His efforts helped make it possible for Barb to work from home through the pandemic.
These episodes offer more than just a nostalgic trip down memory lane; they serve as a poignant and powerful reminder of the significance of preserving our collective past. With it being one of the station’s most popular franchises on its YouTube channel and "Throwback's" second online home, Barb is nowhere near finished mining the archives for our edification and pleasure.
Related videos
A sampling of “Throwback” features
- Frontier Midway Houses on the Way to Tijuana, 1954
- San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter - On March 21, 1974, News 8 reported, “The Gaslamp Quarter Association, headed by Tom Hom, had big plans for the eight-block area south of Broadway in 1974. On this day, he asked the City Council to create the district. Hom took Jim Gordon on a tour of the area. You can see the Hotel St. James, the Sommer Building, the Nesmith-Greely Building, and interior shots of the original Old Spaghetti Factory.”
- Horton Grand Hotel, 1980
- Balboa Theatre Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1997
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