Press Releases
IU Archives of African American Music and Culture partners with Google Cultural Institute to Celebrate Black History Month
View full press release about "The Golden Age of Black Radio" in PDF format
In recognition of Black History Month, the Google Cultural Institute is providing a unique virtual experience to better explore and pay tribute to Black history. The new Black History and Culture section of GCI brings together unique collections from archives for anyone to access, not only during Black History Month, but throughout the year. Indiana University’s Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC) joins 50 other partner organizations in this endeavor, offering new online exhibits that explore Black history and culture using interactive and innovative methods.
Starting today, the AAAMC’s four-part exhibition celebrating “The Golden Age of Black Radio” can be viewed online by people around the world. The story of Black radio is told through over 100 historic photographs from the AAAMC’s collections, as well as audio and video clips of interviews with Black radio pioneers. Many of these materials are available to the public for the first time.
IU Professor Emeritus Dr. Portia K. Maultsby, who initiated the Black radio collections at the AAAMC, said of the importance of this exhibit: "Black radio deejays changed the sound of radio in America. They introduced the public to a distinct Black style of on-air talk that was a combination of the Black oral tradition of storytelling, speaking in rhythm and rhyme, and speaking in an improvised style with an animated delivery. They were also instrumental in exposing Black music and recording artists to a mainstream audience, and advocating for civil rights."
Virtual exhibit details
The four-part exhibition traces the birth of Black-oriented radio programs in Chicago through the transition to all-Black programming by stations around the country. Along the way, users will learn about the role of radio during the Civil Rights Movement, pioneering African American women in radio, personality deejays who rapped and rhymed, and the role of deejays in “breaking the hits” and promoting Black music and artists.
Some of the most significant items in the online exhibition are:
- Video clips from an in-depth interview with legendary deejay, Jack “The Rapper” Gibson, recorded at Indiana University in 1981.
- Audio clips from interviews with nearly two dozen Black radio personality deejays and producers, recorded in the early 1990s.
- Historic photographs documenting Black radio stations and deejays in cities including Houston, Atlanta, Louisville, Cincinnati, Detroit, Philadelphia and New York, as well as the important relationship between Black radio personalities and African American communities.
To access the exhibit, go to: https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/collection/archives-of-african-american-music-and-culture?projectId=black-history-and-culture.
Archives of African American Music and Culture highlights Black radio during spring semester
View full press release about the AAAMC highlighting Black Radio in PDF format
Indiana University’s Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC) will be highlighting Black radio during the Spring 2016 semester through public lectures, exhibits, and historic radio programs. Topics will range from the history of Black-oriented radio, including its social and economic impact, to the role of gospel announcers in disseminating African American religious music beyond the Black church.
The first of these programs will launch in February during Black History Month.
On February 1, the AAAMC’s online multi-media exhibit, “The Golden Age of Black Radio,” will debut on the Google Cultural Institute website. Included are historic photographs, as well as audio and video clips of interviews with Black radio pioneers, many available to the public for the first time. The four-part exhibit traces the birth of Black-oriented radio in Chicago, the role of radio during the Civil Rights Movement, women in radio, and the role of personality deejays in “breaking the hits” and promoting Black music and artists. The AAAMC is one of 50 institutions partnering with Google to contribute 80 new online exhibits celebrating Black history.
On February 1, the AAAMC will provide online streaming access for the first time, via IU Media Collections Online, to a rare hour-long video interview with Jack “The “Rapper” Gibson—considered by many to be the father of Black radio. Gibson recounts milestones in his career, beginning in 1945 as an actor on "Here Comes Tomorrow” (the first radio soap opera drama to feature an all-Black cast), as well as the history of Black-owned and operated radio stations and personality deejays. The interview was conducted in 1981 at IU by Dr. Portia K. Maultsby, and was recently preserved through IU’s Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative. Brief clips of the interview are also included in the AAAMC’s online exhibit “The Golden Age of Black Radio” (see above).
On February 9, an exhibit on Black radio will open in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center’s Bridgwater Lounge. Drawing upon collections donated to the AAAMC by award-winning radio producer Jacquie Gales Webb, the exhibit will highlight the history of Black radio and provide an overview of Webb’s career. As producer of the groundbreaking 1996 Smithsonian radio series, “Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was,” Webb was among the first to explore the history and development of Black-oriented radio through interviews with pioneering disc jockeys, producers, radio station executives and recording artists.
On February 13, in honor of UNESCO World Radio Day, the AAAMC will provide online streaming access for the first time, via IU Media Collections Online, to the 1968 radio series, “What Must Be Done: Where Are We Today in Black-White Relations?” Moderated by pioneering civil rights attorney Percy E. Sutton, the 30-minute panel discussion aired weekly over WLIB (“the leading voice of New York’s black residents”), beginning July 1, 1968, just three months after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
On February 22, a publicly accessible online multi-media exhibit celebrating the career of award-winning producer and gospel music announcer Jacquie Gales Webb will be added to the AAAMC’s website: aaamc.indiana.edu.
On March 9, award-winning producer and gospel music announcer Jacquie Gales Webb will present a free public lecture in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center’s Grand Hall at 4:00 p.m. The lecture will be followed by a reception honoring her distinguished career and the establishment of the Jacquie Gales Webb Collection at Indiana University’s Archives of African American Music and Culture. The collection will provide an invaluable resource for scholarly research and course development on Black-oriented radio, radio documentary production, media history, African American music—including gospel and jazz—as well as broader issues on music, communication and culture.
On April 6, award-winning gospel music announcer Dr. Deborah Smith Pollard will present a free public lecture in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center’s Grand Hall at 4:00 p.m. Dr. Pollard is Professor of English Literature and Humanities at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. For the past three decades she has been an iconic voice on Detroit radio, and currently is the host/producer of "Rhythm and Praise with Deborah Smith Pollard," a contemporary gospel music program heard Sunday mornings on MIX 92.3 FM. Dr. Pollard’s lecture will be followed by a reception celebrating the establishment of the Deborah Smith Pollard Collection at Indiana University’s Archives of African American Music and Culture.