Audio Antiques

From 1955 it's the NBC Radio show Best of All. This episode featuring a salute to the National Association of Negro Musicians. Honoring African-Americans involved in classical music. The program is hosted by Marian Anderson, the famous contralto, who performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals, with renowned orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, between 1925 and 1965. ...

The Great Gildersleeve was a radio situation comedy broadcast from 1941 to 1957. The series was built around the character of Throckmorton Gildersleeve, a small town water commissioner and his family. One of the co-stars was Lillian Randolph, an African-American actress and singer. However, later in the series her actress sister Amanda Randolph took the role. Both Randolphs were active during radi...

Destination Freedom - A Chicago based series from radio's classic era. This episode is entitled, Ghost Editor. It's the story of Oklahoma newspaper publisher Roscoe Dunjee. He founded the Black Dispatch in 1915, the first African-American newspaper in Oklahoma City. Dunjee used it as a platform to support civil rights and to reveal injustices.  More at http://krobcollection.com

From the 1940's, it's the bar-room situation comedy series Duffy's Tavern, starring Ed Gardner as Archie the manager of the tavern. Co-starring on the show was Eddie Green, an actor, film director, and composer, who was one of the most influential African-American artists on radio during the golden age. Green got into the entertainment business as a boy magician in Baltimore, and later transitione...

From the 1940s, this is the popular and influential Wings Over Jordan program. It was a Sunday morning show, named for the prominent African American choir that performed on it during the 1930s and 1940s. The choir was founded in 1935 by Rev. Glen Settle pastor of Gethsemane Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. The show originated on local station WGAR, but was picked up nationwide by the CBS Networ...

This is one of the few classic radio programs hosted by a female. From the 1940s, The Judy Canova Show centered on the life of an entertainer from the country, who becomes a hit in the big city.  The show co-stars Ruby Dandridge as Judy's sidekick Geranium. The African-American actress had a career that included the stage, radio, films, and television. She's also the mother of celebrated actress,...

Its time for Jubilee, a radio program that featured African American musicians and singers. This 1942 episode features composer, pianist, and orchestra leader Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters a singer and actress who in 1939 was the first African-American to appear in her own TV show, and Eddie Anderson, an actor and comedian, who was a popular co-star on the Jack Benny Show.  For details visit http:/...

From 1948, this is an NBC Radio interview show called Author Meets the Critics. The special Guest is Walter White, who led the NAACP from 1929 to 1955. He joined the organization in 1918 investigating race riots and lynchings. White developed legal challenges to fight segregation and voting restrictions aimed at minorities.  Walter White tells his story, and talks about his autobiography.  More at...

Jubilee, a radio program that featured African American musicians and singers, hosted by Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman. Most of the shows were staged in Los Angeles and broadcast to U.S. Troops around the world. This 1944 episode features jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader Lionel Hampton and singer Dinah Washington.  More at http://krobcollection.com

One of the wackiest programs during the golden age of radio was the Danny Kaye Show. The actor, singer, dancer, comedian, musician, and philanthropist, had one of the highest rated shows in 1946, and his co-star was Butterfly McQueen. The African-American actress was best known for her appearance in the movie, Gone with the Wind. Often typecast as a maid, she said: "I didn't mind playing a maid th...

From 1944, it's the program New World A Coming. This episode is called the Negro in Entertainment, and features 24 year old Hazel Scott. A prominent movie actress, dazzling pianist, jazz singer, and civil rights activist throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Scott is in the history books as the first black American to host her own network TV show. Scott's career in America was sabotaged after she was...

The Jack Benny Program was one of the most popular shows during radio's classic era. And one of the most popular characters on that program was Benny's trusty valet Rochester, as played by Eddie Anderson. He was the first African American to have a regular role on a network show, and became one of radio's highest paid entertainers during the golden age. Thanks to smart business investments, Anders...

From the Mutual Broadcasting System this is one of the lesser known entertainment shows from radio's golden age. Scout About Town. This 1947 episode features an African-American trio called the 3 Flames. Singer Lily Ann Carole, and Comedian Morey Amsterdam before he made it big in television. The host is Barry Gray.  More at http://krobcollection.com

Dick Gregory (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017) was an American comedian, civil rights activist, and author whose pioneering stand-up routines broke through racial barriers in the 1960s, making him a prominent voice in both entertainment and social justice. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Gregory rose to national fame after his breakthrough performance at Chicago’s Playboy Club, where his sharp, sa...

You're going to experience what it was like to hear history unfold on December 7th, 1941 when Japan attacked the United States. This is radio coverage of that fateful Sunday, as well as that Monday when Congress declared a state of war.  More at http://krobcollection.com

From the classic radio drama Destination Freedom, you're going to learn the story of The Knock-Kneed Man. Crispus Attucks, was a stevedore of African and Native American descent, and is widely regarded as the first person killed in the Boston Massacre, and thus the first American killed in the American Revolution.  More at http://krobcollection.com

Life with Luigi is an radio situation comedy series which began in the 1940s. The action centered on Luigi Basco and his experiences as a newly arrived Italian immigrant in Chicago, and his interactions with other refugees from different countries. In this episode Luigi writes a play to celebrate America, and decides to cast an African-American, which was rarely done at the time.  More at http://k...

Our focus is on the great Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League Baseball. Robinson broke the color barrier when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. We'll hear his story as told by legendary sports reporter Bill Stern. Then two episodes from Jackie Robinson's own radio show, and his radio biography from a 1948 episode of Destination Freedo...

A lesser known adult western series from 1958, Luke Slaughter Of Tombstone. Sam Buffington stars as Luke Slaughter, a Civil War cavalryman who turned to cattle ranching in post war Arizona territory.  More at http://krobcollection.com

From it's early days in the 1920's news was an important part of radio. The first newscasts were little more than announcers reading press releases and police reports. In the 1930s and 40s, network newscasts evolved into audio versions of newspaper columns. During the World War Two and into the 1950s there was the arrival of the radio news anchor, who presented reporters on the scene, with comment...

The radio broadcast of Joe Louis battling Max Baer at Yankee Stadium on September 24th, 1935. It was Louis' 10th fight that year, after defeating 9 other opponents. Joe Louis reigned as boxing's World Heavyweight Champion from 1937 to 1949. The Brown bomber won 26 world heavyweight title fights, the most in history.  More at http://krobcollection.com

On this edition we spotlight Jack Paar. The author, comedian, and actor is best known as one of the most successful hosts of NBC's Tonight Show. The Canton Ohio native began his career working in radio, despite growing up with a stutter. Paar was a humorous DJ at radio stations in Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo, and was then given his own network radio show on NBC in 1947. After getting into a di...

Before Martin Luther King Jr, there was Paul Robeson, who became an international activist for human rights and racial justice just as radio was beginning to become popular. Robeson used his fame as a star football player, and a popular singer and actor to fight for equality, not only in the United States but around the world. You will hear Paul Robeson perform on the Magic Key radio show on NBC i...

The Beulah Show, a situation comedy about a happy house maid, who was always hoping her boyfriend would propose. It was one of the few top starring roles for an African-American during network radio's golden age. Academy award winner Hattie McDaniel got the job in 1947, at what was then a whopping salary of $1,000 a week. In 1952 she became ill and Lillian Randolph took the position. She was later...

The Negro - Fascism and Democracy, from the radio show "New World A Coming". A World War Two examination of which political system African-Americans should side with. The program aired in 1944.   Details at http://krobcollection.com