Origins

     One of the most notable of the pioneering electricity experts was Lewis H. Latimer (1848-1928), son of an enslaved African escapee, who prepared Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent drawings that afterwards assisted the Boston speech and hearing therapist to actually invent his device. Telephone parts were later used by others to demonstrate the wireless transmission of human speech. Talladega College, a black institution known for its solid science curriculum, provided the educational foundation that inspired Lee de Forest to become an inventor who contributed much to perfecting modern radio broadcasting. Before World War I, some African-Americans enrolled in those YMCA radio classes that were then available to them in a number of cities, and they gained even greater access to radio technology during the war as part of the war effort. Howard University in Washington, D.C., for example, offered electrical and radio technology classes under contract with the U.S. military.

A number of African-Americans conducted radio experiments after the war by establishing amateur radio-training organizations. Members could learn how to build and repair radio transmitters and receiver sets, how to send Morse code, and how to obtain an amateur operator's license. Miles Hardy established his Pioneer Radio Society in r92r in New York City. A year later Roland Carrington founded the Banneker Radio Club in Baltimore. One of the most active areas for black ham operators was the midwest. Operators in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky can be traced to Everett Renfroe who passed his ham operator's examination in Chicago in the early 1920s. (The operators formally initiated an organization, OMIK, in the early 1950s to protect members against racism when they traveled throughout the nation.)

Early Broadcasting

  Many African-American musicians took advantage of opportunities to appear on early radio broadcasts. There is evidence that the "father of the blues," W.C. Handy performed on the Memphis ham radio station of a white amateur, Victor Laughter, as early as 1914. The "Fisk Jubilee Singers" of Fisk University and the "Hampton Singers" of Hampton College are known to have performed live on radio in the early 1920s to raise funds for their financially strapped schools. Morehouse College was repeatedly featured on radio in Atlanta. The common bond among African-American performers was a desire to display their abilities in a manner that proved black people were equal to others in society.

As American radio developed in the 1920s, the contribution of African-American musicians also increased across the country. Fletcher Henderson's music was broadcast from New Orleans in 1921. The Plantation Club in Los Angeles broadcast Kid Ory's Sunshine Orchestra in 1922. Further up the West Coast, vaudevillian George Dewey Washington made an appearance on Seattle's KFC. Clarence Jones and His Wonder Orchestra were guests on KYW in Chicago. The Symphonium Serenaders entertained KDKA listeners from Pittsburgh. On New York's WJZ, the Melrose Quartet was featured regularly, and Clarence Williams accompanied a variety of black artists for the station. Eubie Blake and Noble Sissie showcased their cast from "Shuffle Along" on Boston's WNAC during the Boston Radio Exposition of 1922; a year later, they were on the air at KYW in Chicago. "Shuffle Along" later became so popular on Broadway that Sissie and Noble were able to book cast appearances on New York's WJZ, WEAF, and WHN. For its opening ceremonies, WBBM in Chicago included Jimmie Wade's Moulin Rouge Orchestra. WSBC in Chicago featured remote broadcasts by Frankie "Half Pint"Jaxon, and Hughie Swift's band was heard nightly in Chicago on the same station. Duke Ellington first performed on radio over New York's WOT and then WHN in 1923. Bessie Smith, "Empress of the Blues," was heard performing live throughout the southwest in 1923 from Memphis station WMC. In Nashville, Deford Bailey, the legendary harmonica player, was featured on WSM.

He appeared regularly on radio from 1926 to 1941 and helped establish the great musical tradition of the Grand Ole Opry.

New York City was a beehive of African-American radio experimentation during this period. Fletcher Henderson's band, performing at the Roseland, was broadcast remotely on a regular basis. Shows from the Plantation Club in New York, another jazz center for black bands, were broadcast five nights a week. Club Alabam contracted with several different stations to remotely broadcast 47 of its shows. Remote broadcasts from the Savoy Ballroom increased to eight per week. WHN carried a program featuring the great Florence Mills in celebration of her joining the Greenwich Village Follies. A blues marathon show was programmed on WOT. Other New York stations brought in such top entertainers as Antoinelte Gaines, LeRoy Smith, Sam Wooding, Revella Hughes, and Eva "The Dixie Nightingale" Taylor. From St. George's Episcopal Church, vocalist Harry T. Burleigh was heard on WJZ and proclaimed "the leading creative genius of the Negro race."

Local Radio in the 1930s

What is known of African-Americans in and on local radio is still evolving. The paucity of information may be due to the fact that much historical attention has focused on network radio. Some researchers have found, however, that a few Northern stations had begun to observe what was then called "Negro history week," inviting guest speakers to discuss black achievements. Certain important black newsmakers occasionally spoke on a public affairs show, as labor leader A. Phillip Randolph did in 1931. By the mid-1930s, local stations in Baltimore and Philadelphia had at least one weekly program aimed at a black audience. The Museum of the City of San Francisco has discovered that Henry Starr, an African-American, was the leading pianist on KFRC's Edna Fischer Show, a variety program in that city during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The Depression may have created opportunities for African-Americans in many markets during the early 1930s: African-American music was often cheaper than white music for local stations to broadcast because the licensing agency ASCAP had signed few contracts with African-American publishers and writers. A station could thus play recordings by African-Americans and not incur ASCAP fees. Although as early as 1930 there were efforts by black businessmen to purchase a radio station, such efforts would not succeed until 1949·

Strong and continuous local programs by African-Ameri­cans began with those of Jack L. Cooper in Chicago during the 1930s. Many scholars credit Cooper as being the patriarch of black radio. His newsboy experience in Cincinnati and later his professional song and dance work on stage may have helped turn his career toward communication: he became an entertainment writer for the Chicago Defender. While on assignment in Washington in 1925, Cooper began writing, producing, and starring in his own black vaudeville show on WCAP. Washington's racial laws, however, soon forced Coo­per's return to Chicago. There, station WSBC operated suc­ cessfully by brokering time to various immigrant groups and was receptive to Cooper's desire to produce and air The All Negro Hour in 1929. One of Cooper's live broadcasts was threatened in 1932 when the key performer abruptly quit over a pay dispute. Cooper creatively set up a phonograph, placed a microphone in front of it, and played _recorded music to maintain the show's broadcast schedule and continuity thereafter. Inadvertently, he had become the first African-American disc jockey. By 1938 Cooper was brokering up to 20 hours of time ​​on WSBC and programming church services on Sundays. Eventually he bought time on several other Chicago stations, replicated his record show, and produced news and public affairs programs that utilized his journalism skills. He also launched the first black advertising agency and radio production company.

Chicago became a focal point for broadcasting recorded black music-a mix of jazz, blues, spirituals, and hymns­ when in the early 1940s Al Benson bought time on WGES and complemented Cooper's "time blocks" with his own set of programs. Cooper and Benson each organized training programs and taught young aspirants about radio. They bought and sold time, conducted market research, and wrote and produced advertisements.

The "time block" purchase method and the recorded music program also appear to have been popular among local African-American entrepreneurs in other parts of the country in the late 1930s and early 1940s. In Seattle, Bass Harris appeared on KING; in Washington, D.C., Hal Jackson was on WOOK; in Detroit, Ed Baker was featured on WJLB, while Van Douglas appeared on WJBK; in Hammond, Indiana, Eddie Honesty was on WJOB; and in New York, Joe Bostic appeared on both WCNN and WMAC. As with Cooper and Benson, most early African-American radio personalities were college educated, trained by veteran professionals, or they were experienced entrepreneurs who understood the radio business.

Network Radio and Minstrelsy

  With programs such as the hugely popular Amos 'n' Andy featuring white performers playing black roles, one must look at the stereotypic roles played by early black performers to understand the kinds of jobs generally available to African­ American actors on network radio during the 1930s. For example, Ernest Whitman was employed as Awful for The Gibson Family. The role of Gardenia, a humorous character, was played by Georgia Burke on the Betty and Bob soap opera. Even Academy Award winner Hattie McDaniel (Gone With The Wind) was hired to portray a mammy on the net­ work radio series Showboat. McDaniel also played a more endearing role as the lead on the network series Beulah-but only after the role had originally been played by a white man.

Positive portrayals of blacks in network drama were rare but not absent entirely. In 1933 Juano Hernandez starred in the CBS series John Henry, Black River Boat Giant. Rose McClendon, Dorothy Caul, and Jack McDowell also were cast members. John Henry was portrayed as a powerful but bad ladies' man. More frequently, African-Americans were cast in stereotypical roles on network vaudeville programs including the Eddie Cantor Show, Saturday Night Sewing Club, and the Rudy Vallee Show. Cantor also hired a black female vocalist, Thelma Carpenter, for a regular spot on his show. "Rochester," on The Jack Benny Program, was another black stereotype, but much of the humor came from Rochester's "bettering" his white boss.

Performers such as the Golden Gate Quartet, Southernaires, Wings Over Jordan, CBS Trumpeteers, Ethel Waters, Andy Razaf, and Paul Robeson were able to showcase their professional skills nationally at one time or another. The Mills Brothers were especially popular on radio, Duke Ellington had his own network radio show by 19 36, and Marion Anderson is legendary if only for her 1939 appearance at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, which was broadcast nationally.

World War II

 With its entry into the war, however, the United States was forced to begin confronting its "Jim Crow" treatment of black people, including the paucity and negative portrayal of African-Americans on radio: the country badly needed racial tranquility at home and among its military servicemen. To help accomplish its objective, the government produced or supported network radio programs that protected African-Americans in a positive light. Men o' War was an all-black patriotic musical program series featuring naval personnel; it was broadcast regularly for two years over the CBS radio network. Freedom's People, an eight-part program on NBC, highlighted African-American achievements and featured Count Basie, Cab Callaway, George Washington Carver, W.C. Handy, Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, and other outstanding African-Americans. African-Americans portraying positive characters were also written into such network soap operas as Our Gal Sunday and The Romance of Helen Trent.

A special radio documentary, "Open Letter On Race Hatred," was broadcast on CBS in response to the 1943 Detroit, Michigan, race riot that left 35 dead. In addition, a series of discussion and public affairs programs that addressed black issues and featured black leaders aired nationally on radio networks. Ann Tanneyhill produced a show for CBS in 1943 about black women, called Heroines in Bronze. NBC aired programs such as America's Town Meeting (which, although it discussed racial issues, did so with white speakers), The Army Hour, Too Long America, and others. CBS broad­ cast People's Platform, The Negro in the War, and They Call Me, Joe, among others.

Many programs carried by the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) encouraged good race relations among troops. Many programs featured black announcers, recorded music, and live bands. One AFRS station, located at the Blytheville Army Air Corps Base in Arkansas, programmed black local news, events, and recorded music in both the early morning and mid-after­ noon that was listened to faithfully by African-American civilians throughout Mississippi County.

Postwar African-American Radio

  After the war, African-American men and women began performing live on radio throughout America. Early Lee Wright became the South's first recognized black announcer in 194 7 on WROX in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The Delta Rhythm Boys, a local gospel group from the same town, could be heard on records. The famous King Biscuit Time, featuring blues men Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Lockwood, was broadcast on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. WLAC in Nashville had begun to play a mix of black-oriented music on a nightly basis, even though they still used white announcers.

Magazine reports about the success of African-American disc jockeys began to persuade some white owners of unsuccessful radio stations to begin full-time programming of rhythm and blues music. WDIA in Memphis, Tennessee, was the first such white station to do so. It was the second new station (after KWAM in 1946), to go on the air in Memphis after the war and found survival in the new competitive market very difficult. John Pepper, one of the WDIA owners, was ready to quit. In 1948 the station's general manager and co-owner, Bert Ferguson, read a magazine article about the economic success of programming to African-Americans. Probably he was reading about Jack L. Cooper or Al Benson in Chicago. Shortly afterwards Ferguson hired Nat D. Williams to create a block of black-oriented programming in the afternoon. Willi:1.ms' after­ noon program soon brought financial success to WDIA and enabled Ferguson to add another time block that featured Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert, then A.C. "Mooha'' Williams and others until WDIA's entire schedule was completely filled with various black blocks of rhythm-and-blues and gospel music programming. Fulltime black-oriented radio was born.

By the early 1950s, there were reportedly more than 500 blacks working in radio throughout the nation, play-ing mostly rhythm-and-blues, and working part-time on stations that otherwise provided programming for white listeners. This sudden expansion in the number of black announcers had been driven by the popularity of rhythm and blues music. The sounds conveyed joy and hope in a language that reflected the postwar vision of freedom. The men and women who played the music on radio shared the same hope for the future and spoke the same rhythmic language. The rhyme-language style popular among blacks was used in a variety of situations such as "signifying" contests or when compliments were paid on clothing styles. Al Benson used it on radio, but Jack L. Cooper did not. It was used for laudatory salutes among MCs on the black entertainment "chittlin' circuit" when introducing performers and working the audience. Some scholars trace the 1hyme's origin back to Africa. It certainly found its way into the lyrics of Louis Jordan "Beware" recorded in the mid-194os. Nat D. Williams was associated with rhyme on Beale Street and later on WDIA. Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert, entertainer turned Memphis disc jockey, moved to Baltimore radio and popularized the style. Doug "Jocko" Henderson, a Hulbert admirer, put his signature on the style in Philadelphia and syndicated his Rocket Ship Show to five other East Coast markets. Radio personalities such as Jack Gibson and Daddy-O Daily developed rhyme styles mutually exclusive of the Memphis linkage.

African-Americans solidified their positive presence in radio through perseverance and by promoting rhythm-and-blues music; their audience expanded because of improved education and growing wealth among African-Americans. Most major U.S. cities operated a full-time rhythm-and-blues station by the mid-19 50s. As black people traveled or communicated, they spread stories about their favorite local disc jockey, among them "Frantic" Ernie, Jack "The Rapper" Gibson, Joe "Joltin Joe" Howard, "The Magnificent" Montague, "Honey Boy" Thomas, "Lucky" Cordell, Sid "The Real" McCoy, Martha Jean "The Queen," or simply, Georgie Woods.

African-American performers and rhythm-and-blues music were adopted by white people and by broadcast institutions at an increasing rate. Among those who championed the new sound were Alan Freed in Cleveland, Dick Clark in Philadelphia, George Lorenz in Buffalo, and Robert "Wolfman Jack" Smith near Del Rio, Texas. Collectively, recorded rhythm-and­ blues performances and the accolades awarded black disc jockeys had made their impression. Imitation by white broadcasters was a respectful cultural compliment.

Station Ownership and Activism

Andrew "Skip" Carter bought KPRS of Kansas City, Missouri, a defunct operation, in early 1949: he became the first African­ American to own a commercial radio license. Later that same year, J.B. Slayton purchased WERD in Atlanta. Dr. Haley Bell in Detroit was the first black person to construct a new radio station-WCHB first aired in 1956.

African-American disc jockeys during the 1950s found it necessary to organize professionally in order to help each other improve salaries, working conditions, equal rights, and employment. They formed the National Jazz, Rhythm-and­ Blues Disc Jockey Association and attracted national attention in 1956 when members met to defend rhythm-and-blues music against its critics-those who believed that because rhythm­-and-blues had black origins it was dangerous for white people to listen to. The group later changed its name to the National Association of Radio and Television Announcers (NATRA).

In the mid-196os, managing and owning stations moved to the top of the black broadcasters' agenda. The entire black staff of disc jockeys at WVOL in Nashville went on strike in 1964 and helped head salesman, Noble Blackwell, move into the vacated general manager's job. In Chicago, Lucky Cordell was appointed manager at WVON. These moves were seen as milestone achievements within the larger civil rights movement.

Dr. Martin Luther King addressed the 1967 NATRA convention and publicly thanked its members for their valuable support of the civil rights movement. He praised the contributions of African-American announcers in general for using radio to popularize rhythm-and-blues internationally. Commentators have since praised the role played by African-American broadcasters in calming fears in the midst of the urban rebellions in the 1960s. Yet many emphasized the need for radio to open its doors even wider. African-Americans in the mid-196os still held perhaps only one percent of the 60,000 jobs in commercial radio, and only five of 5,500 licensed radio stations were black-owned.

Pressure from activist groups and changes in federal policy brought sweeping change in the 1970s. NATRA declined as a result of growing conflict within and outside its own ranks over its priorities. Yet the organization's agenda, to promote ownership of radio stations by blacks, advanced by Del Shields and others, had won support from FCC Commissioner Nicho­ las Johnson and was also supported by other organizations such as Black Efforts in Soul Television, led by Bill Wright, and subsequently The National Black Media Coalition under Pluria Marshall. The predominantly white National Association of Broadcasters along with the National Congressional Black Caucus also lent their efforts to addressing the ownership problem. The first black FCC Commissioner, Benjamin Hooks, was appointed by President Richard Nixon. Overall, this activism led to a modest increase in station ownership and the establishment of The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters.

Dr. Haley Bell's acquisition of a second Detroit license in the 1960s (to operate WCHD-FM) made him the first African­ American to own more than one station. James Brown's two Augusta, Georgia, stations and Percy Sutton's Inner Broadcasting, Inc., based in New York, soon followed. Dorothy Brun­ son's acquisition of Brown's stations made her the first African­ American woman to become a station owner. Cathy Hughes of Radio, Inc. emerged as a legendary figure in radio-station financing, acquisitions, and operations. Hughes had honed her skills in advertising and sales by serving as a radio volunteer in Omaha. In 1971 she began to teach advertising at Howard University, and was soon managing WHUR-FM, owned by the university. By 1980 she had purchased Washington's WOL and added another station to her list in 1987. Deregulation helped Hughes: in the early 1990s she founded Radio One, Inc., and by 2001 her company held 48 radio station licenses and was the main reason African-Americans now owned more than 200 stations. But in many markets deregulation hurt the black goal of owning more stations. The 1996 Telecommunications Act allowed unlimited groups of radio stations (as well as multiple stations in any single market) to be owned by a single entity: this relaxation of former rules had the effect of pushing up station prices. Often unable to raise the inflated purchase prices-and with existing black-owned stations bought out by the owners of the growing radio chains-black station owners were unable to compete: the number of black-owned stations stagnated then slowly began to decline. The only bright note was that at the turn of the century, blacks William Kennard and then Michael Powell were successive chairmen of the FCC.

Networks and Wider Distribution

  The first African-American network was the short-lived National Negro Network founded by black entrepreneur W. Leonard Evans in 19 5 4. The network signed up 40 affiliates and promised good programming: among its best were a radio drama The Story of Ruby Valentine and variety shows hosted by Cab Callaway and Ethel Waters. But lack of advertiser support caused the network's demise after only a few months. Two decades later two networks, the Mutual Black Network and the National Black Network, began providing news and public affairs programming to black-oriented radio stations. Together these networks reached millions of listeners.

Ronald R. Davenport, a former dean of the Duquesne University School of Law, raised enough money to purchase the struggling white-owned Mutual Black Network and assumed management of the company. In the late 1970s MBN became the Sheridan Broadcasting Company. In 1991 Sheridan Broadcasting Network and National Black Network joined forces to operate as equals in a general partnership under a new name, American Urban Radio Networks. The AURN distributes a variety of news and public affairs programming to 250 African-American-oriented radio stations. It ranks as one of broadcasting's most successful firms.

A number of highly visible existing African-American operations have made use of such newer technologies as communication satellites and the internet. For years radio personality Tom Joyner had worked in both Dallas and Chicago simultaneously. He became known as the "fly jock" for his daily commutes between the two cities. Finally he converted to up­ linking his broadcast signal to satellite from his Dallas location and syndicating his program to all radio stations. His popular show is now heard coast to coast by millions of listeners daily via the ABC Radio Network's satellite system. He is not alone. Others have purchased satellite time and are thus linked to hundreds of outlets nationally. Examples include Walt "Baby" Love, for Walt "Baby" Love Productions, Lee Bailey for Bailey Broadcasting, and American Urban Radio Networks. Darnell's Black Radio Guide maintains a growing list of internet-only black radio stations. The heart of the human resource chain is Black College Radio whose stated purpose is to provide an annual forum for black college broadcasters, professional broadcasters, and members of the music industry to meet and discuss ways to increase minority participation in the broadcasting industry.

Although the playing field for African-Americans has seldom been level, many have persisted and mastered the skills essential for successful leadership. The number of African­ Americans who worked in radio between 1920 and :woo was comparatively small. The quality of their contribution to achieve equity is more significant to radio when culture is placed into a perspective that stretches from Latimer, Gosden, and Correll, to recorded music used in modern programming. The magnitude of African-American presence in radio through jazz, rhythm and blues (or rock and roll), blues, reggae, gospel, salsa, and rap, regardless of the performer's race, is incalculable. According to folk legend Pete Seeger, American music is Africanized music.