Audio Antiques

Hattie McDaniel was an American actress, singer, and comedian. She was born in 1893 in Wichita, Kansas...and was the youngest of 13 children. Her father Henry had fought in the Civil War. Her mother was a gospel singer, both had been slaves. After graduating from high school McDaniel started working as a songwriter and performer. In the 1920s she began performing on the radio, and embarked on a re...

We're going to learn about Adam Clayton Powell Jr. He was the first African-American to be elected to Congress from New York, as well as the first from any state in the Northeastern U.S. Powell represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971. He served as a national spokesman on civil rights and social issues. Powell also urged the U.S....

Elvis Ghost, Cheating Spouses, Pregnancy & Exercise. More at http://krobcollection.com

Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor, and musician, who was Born in Brooklyn New York in 1916 under difficult circumstances. His only sibling died at age 14, his father abandoned the family, and Gleason dropped out of school to earn money. Then his mother died leaving him broke and homeless. Gleason spent the next decade trying to break into show business as a night club comedian. He eve...

History comes alive with coverage of D-Day from CBS Radio, which marked the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany during World War Two. The Normandy landing was the largest seaborne invasion of all time, with nearly 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on D-Day with 875,000 men eventually disembark...

Ken Robinson in a classic interview with Northeast Ohio urban radio station executive Harry Boomer. More at KrobCollection.com

Nellie Lutcher was a popular African-American jazz and R&B singer, pianist and songwriter, who is largely forgotten today. Born in Louisiana in 1912, she began playing piano at a young age and eventually formed her own band, The Nellie Lutcher Trio. She gained popularity in the 1940s with hits such as "Hurry On Down" and "Fine Brown Frame." Lutcher's unique style blende...

In this podcast we focus on difficulties African-Americans faced in housing and employment during the time of Jim Crow racism, in both the south and the north, as presented on the program New World A' Comin'. First, with the 1945 episode entitled Hot Spots USA, which follows a family trying to escape discrimination for a better life. Then a 1944 episode called Executive Order 8802, which w...

Comedy Writers, Office Help, Baking For Guns. More at http://krobcollection.com

Ken Robinson interviews Black inventor and Ohio auto dealer Onie Temple in this historic broadcast. More at KrobCollection.com

Boxing was very popular on radio during the medium's golden age. Floyd Patterson and Tommy Hurricane Jackson battled for the heavyweight crown at the Polo Grounds in New York in 1957. Patterson was the world heavyweight champion twice between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in history to win the title, and was also the first heavyweight to regain the title after l...

The topics are Female Inferiority, Stranger Danger, and Memories.  More at http://krobcollection.com

Hollywood stars were no strangers to radio during the classic era. Many made guest appearances on a variety of programs, and some even had programs of their own. Like Humphrey Bogart.  The iconic actor and Academy Award Winner performed radio adaptations of some of his best-known films, such as Casablanca and The African Queen, and recorded a radio series entitled Bold Venture with his equally tal...

This is one of the lesser known radio series which was broadcast toward the end of the golden age. Theater-5 aired on the ABC Radio Network between 1964 and 1965. Theater-5 used an anthology format, each play was about 20 minutes long covering several genres, including science fiction, crime, drama, comedy and romance. Here are three episodes. The Absence of All Intelligent Life from 1965. Jazz Fe...

Ken Robinson introduces us to the University of Akron steel drum band "Tropical Winds". More at KrobCollection.com

Josephine Baker was an American-born French entertainer, a decorated French Resistance agent during World War Two, and  a civil rights activist. Baker's career was centered primarily in Europe, where in 1927, she became the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture. Born in St. Louis, the singer, dancer, actress and freedom fighter worked for the French as a secret agent during World...

Host Ken Robinson explores the need for adoptive parents. More at KrobCollection.com

Stand-up comedian, actor, singer, dancer, and author Bob Hope was very popular on radio, and had a career that spanned nearly 80 years. In addition to his long running radio show on NBC, Hope starred in 54 feature films. He also became a sensation on television, and hosted the Academy Awards show 19 times.  Hope was born in southeast London, England but arrived in the United States with his family...

Journalist Ken Robinson takes a look at the unique qualities of Saturday nigh in America, and how people spend their time on the sixth day of the week. Plus, A Nurses' Story, Haunted Houses, and DPLA. More at http://krobcollection.com

We celebrate legendary American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer Thomas Fats Waller. He laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano and some say he paved the way for rock-n-roll. Waller started playing piano at the age of 6, and copyrighted over 400 songs during his career, including Grammy winners "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckl...

Crime dramas were very popular during radio's golden age. Most featured tough guy detectives, except one! Candy Matson, was a female private investigator, operating in San Francisco, with a penthouse on Telegraph Hill. The program premiered on NBC Radio in 1949, and was notable for having a veiled gay sidekick serving as Candy's best friend Rembrandt Watson. Candy Matson starred Natalie Ma...

Here are two episodes from the classic late 1940's radio show Destination Freedom. It begins with The Saga of Blanche K. Bruce, the first African-American United States senator to serve a full term, from 1875 to 1881. Bruce was born into slavery in 1841. The second episode is entitled Shakespeare of Harlem, The Story of Langston Hughes. The poet, novelist, playwright, and social activist was k...

It's the final game in 1958 NBA World Championship Series between the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. The series went six games, the Hawks were ahead 3 games to 2, with the legendary Bill Russell playing for the Celtics even as he was suffering from an ankle injury from Game 3. We pick up the action in the fourth quarter with the radi...

The Mutual Broadcasting System was the last of the 4 radio networks to go in the air during the golden era, and started operating in 1934. It was called Mutual, because unlike the other 3, it was owned by its founding affiliates. Mutual ended operations in 1999, and was best known for shows like The Lone Ranger, Superman and The Shadow, Major League Baseball, and the NFL. In 1936 MBS celebrated ca...

Albert Einstein the German-born theoretical physicist, is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest scientists of all time. A champion of civil rights, an outspoken critic of racism, plus a lifetime member of the NAACP, Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, and for the development of quantum mechanics. We'll hear a 1950 dramatization of the of life of Einstein from th...