Destination Freedom was a series of weekly radio programs that was produced by WMAQ in Chicago. The first set ran from 1948 to 1950 and it presented the biographical histories of prominent African Americans such as George Washington Carver, Satchel Paige, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Lena Horne. (Also see ) The scripts for those shows were written by Richard Durham. Studs Terkel voiced some of the radio characters. Hugh Downs also served as an announcer in both the initial and 1950 series.
History The second series of shows ran from 1950 to 1951, and it was produced without Durham. This second series featured patriotic themed dramas that were largely based on Americanism and anti-Communism.
The show was the brainchild of African-American journalist and author Richard Durham. In cooperation with The Chicago Defender, he began this series over NBC Chicago outlet WMAQ in June 1948, with scripts emphasizing the progress of African Americans from the days of slavery to the ongoing struggle for racial justice. Airing in Sunday-morning public-service time, the series built a steady audience in the Midwest, with inspirational stories of social progress, earning strong support from Civil Rights organizations, and offering employment to a wide range of African-American performers. Episodes began with a stanza from the spiritual "Oh, Freedom".
Destination Freedom premiered on June 27, 1948, on Chicago radio WMAQ. Durham's vision was to re-educate the masses on the image of African-American society, since he believed that it was tainted with inaccurate and derogatory stereotypes. Week after week, Durham would challenge these stereotypes by illustrating the lives of prominent African Americans. For two years, Durham wrote script after script for Destination Freedom, receiving no financial compensation for his effort. In 1950, Durham's financial needs forced him to accept an offer by Don Ameche to write material for him. It is also said that Durham's relationship with NBC and WMAQ was not entirely harmonious. Continuing without Durham, the final year of the program turned to general themes of "American freedom", without the sharp focus on the African-American experience. This, WMAQ hoped, would create a show to rival Paul Revere Speaks, a popular show at the time. For about 50 years, the show was long forgotten until some transcripts were found, and the characters voiced by Fred Pinkard, Oscar Brown Jr., Wezlyn Tilden, and Janice Kingslow, were heard once more.
Two early recordings, "A Garage in Gainesville" and "Execution Awaited", are listed in National Recording Registry. In 1949, it received a first-place commendation from the Ohio State University Institute for Education by Radio.
Richard Durham episodes
The Knock-Kneed Man – Crispus Attucks – June 27 and July 30, 1950Recording Railway to Freedom – Harriet Tubman – July 4Recording Dark Explorers – Moors who helped explore New Spain – July 11Recording The Denmark Vesey Story – community leader in Charleston, South Carolina () – July 18Recording The Making of a Man – Frederick Douglass: Part 1 – June 27Recording ; The Key to Freedom – Frederick Douglass: Part 2 – August 1Recording ; The Heart of George Cotton – doctors Daniel Hale Williams and Ulysses Grant Dailey – August 8 and October 31.Recording Truth Goes to Washington – Sojourner Truth – August 15Recording ; Arctic Autograph – Matthew Henson – August 22Recording The Story of 1875 – Charles Caldwell – August 29Recording Poet in Pine Mill – James Weldon Johnson – September 5Recording The Father of the Blues – W. C. Handy – September 12Recording Boy with a Dream – J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. – September 19Recording Shakespeare of Harlem – Langston Hughes – September 26Recording ; Citizen – Toussaint l'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution – October 3Recording ; Little David – Joe Louis – October 10Recording The Boy Who Was Traded for a Horse – George Washington Carver – October 17Recording Repeat performance of The Heart of George Cotton – October 31Recording Echoes of Harlem – Duke Ellington – November 7Recording One Out of Seventeen – Mary McLeod Bethune – November 14Recording ; The Rhyme of the Ancient Dodger – Jackie Robinson – November 21Recording Investigator for Democracy – Walter Francis White – November 28 Recording Autobiography of a Hero – Doris ("Dorie") Miller – December 5Recording ; The episode includes the poem "Negro Hero", by Gwendolyn Brooks The Pied Piper Versus Paul Revere – Albert Merritt – founder of the Boys Club of Martinsville, IndianaRecording – December 12 Choir Girl from Philadelphia – Marian Anderson – December 19Recording Mike Rex – author Willard Motley – December 26Recording
Maiden Speech – Oscar Stanton De Priest – January 2Recording The Boy Who Beat the Bus – Governor William H. Hastie – January 9Recording The Chopin Murder Case – Hazel Scott – January 16 The World's Fastest Human – Jesse Owens – January 23
Last Letter Home – 332nd Fighter Group (Tuskegee Airmen) – January 30 and August 13, 1950Recording Searcher for History W.E.B. Du Bois – February 6 The Death of Aesop – February 13 and November 27Recording Peace Mediator – Dr. Ralph J Bunche – February 20 and August 6, 1950Recording The Houses That Paul Built – Paul R. Williams – February 27Recording Do Something! Be Somebody! – Canada Lee – March 6Recording Up From Slavery – Booker T. Washington – March 13Recording Black Boy – Richard Wright – March 20Recording Transfusion – Charles R. Drew and his work on blood transfusion – March 27Recording Pagan Poet – Countee Cullen – April 3Recording Woman with a Mission – Ida B. Wells – April 10Recording Before I Sleep – poet Paul Laurence Dunbar – April 17Recording Apostle of Freedom – Richard Allen – April 24 Help the Blind – Josh White – May 1Recording The Ballad of Satchel Paige – May 15Recording The Secretary of Peace – Benjamin Banneker – May 22 The Saga of Melody Jackson – Henry Armstrong – May 29Recording Anatomy of an Ordinance – Alderman Rev. Archibald Carey – June 5Recording Negro Cinderella – Lena Horne – June 12Recording ; Ghost Editor – Roscoe Dunjee – June 19Recording Harriet's Children (First anniversary program) – June 26Recording Norfolk Miracle – Dorothy Maynor – July 3 (rebroadcast February 2002 by KGNU)"Norfolk Miracle : the Story of Dorothy Maynor" ; Tales of Stackalee (Black folklore hero) – July 17Audiotape – The legend of Stackalee – The Legend of John Henry – a retelling of the folk hero story – July 24Recording The Trumpet Talks – Louis Armstrong – July 31Recording The Long Road – Mary Church Terrell – August 7Recording Black Hamlet, Part I – Henri Christophe (life as a slave) – August 14 Black Hamlet, Part II – Henri Christophe (rise to power) – August 21Recording Segregation Incorporated – National Committee on Segregation in the Nation's Capital, 1947–51 – August 28; rebroadcast in January 2003 by KGNURecording ; Episode: "Segregation Incorporated" The Saga of Senator Blanche K. Bruce – September 4Recording The Tiger Hunt – the 761st Tank Battalion in World War II – September 11Recording Poet in Bronzeville – Gwendolyn Brooks – September 18Recording ; A Garage in Gainesville – retelling of a lynching in a small southern town – September 25Recording Execution Awaited – a simulated court trial examining prejudice and racism – October 2Destination Freedom – Execution Awaited (Part II in a series on prejudice), via YouTube<li>Recording Father to Son – Adam Clayton Powell Sr. and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. – October 9, rebroadcast in August 2002 by station KGNURecording – includes an interview with Adam Clayton Powell III ; Of Blood and the Boogie – Albert Ammons – October 16Recording ; Diary of a Nurse – Jane Edna Hunter – October 23Recording ; Keeper of the Dream – Captain Hugh Mulzac, commander of the – October 30Recording The Man Who Owned Chicago – Jean Baptiste Point du Sable – November 6Recording Blind Alley Symphony – Dean Dixon – November 13 The Tale of the Tobacco Auctioneer — Kenneth R. Williams – November 20
The Death of Aesop – February 13 and November 27 Joe Rainey vs. The Status Quo – Joseph Homer Rainey – December 4
The Birth of a League – the Great Northern Migration and formation of the Chicago Urban League – January 15Recording
Lawyer of Liberty – William Henry Huff – January 22Recording Portrait of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson – January 29Recording ; ; rebroadcast in March 2003 by KGNU; cast included Donnie L. Betts as Bill Robinson; with Jeff Campbell, Laurence Curry, Matthew Dente, Jacob Mora, Ruthay, Kurt Soderstrom, and John Williams; theme singer, Claire Frances Peterson Housing: Chicago – February 5 Recorder of History – Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founded Negro History Week in Chicago – February 12Recording
Brotherhood Week Begins at Home – February 19 – Tribute to Hugh C. McMannanRecording The Umfunddisi of Ndotsgeni – Todd Duncan – February 26 The Atlanta Thesis – E. Franklin Frazier – March 5 Premonition of the Panther – Sugar Ray Robinson – March 12Recording ; The Making of a Balladeer – Lonnie Johnson – March 19 The Liberators (Part I) – William Lloyd Garrison – March 26Recording The Liberators (Part II) – Wendell Phillips – April 2Recording The Buddy Young Story – April 9Recording <li>The Fifth District Crime Fighter (Captain Kinzie Bleuitt) – a dramatization of law enforcement efforts in South Side, Chicago – April 16Episode: "The Fifth District Crime Fighter"Recording The Dance Anthropologist – Katherine Dunham – April 23Recording ;
The Case of Samuel Johnson – judge Jane Bolin – May 7Recording The Sorrow Songs – Spirituals – May 14Recording Durham won a Peabody Award for this performance in this episode. John Hope, Educator – May 21 The Grave Diggers' Handicap – Isaac Murphy – June 4Recording The Shy Boy – Fats Waller – June 11Recording ; The Case of the Congressman's Train Ride – Richard Westbrooks, who represented Arthur Mitchell in a US Supreme Court case – June 18Westbrooks was also a founder of the Cook County Bar Association: See WorldCat cassette data – The Angel of Federal Street – a tale about heaven and South Side, Chicago – nurse Ruth Blue Turnquist – June 25Recording Kansas City Phone Call – Nat King Cole – July 2Recording ; Mr. Jerico Adjusts a Claim – William Nickerson Jr. and the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company – July 9Recording Test by Fire – Charlotte Hawkins – July 16 Sing a Song for Children – Pruth McFarlin – July 23, rebroadcast in September 2002 on KGNUAuthors include Donnie L. Betts, T. J. Betts, Matthew Dente, Daniel Jensen, Ruthay, Julie Swartout, Arthur C. Jones, Spirituals Project Choir (Denver). Recording ;
Post-Durham episodes – Paul Revere "Patriotic Freedom" format
Patriotic Format – opening show for 1950, a discussion of freedom amongst historic figures – October 15, 1950Episode: Patriotic Format" United Nations – promoting the establishment of the organization – December 17, 1950Episode: "United Nations" Magic Words – a recap of the basic rights of freedom – November 5, 1951 The Golden Circle – beginnings of the Knights of the Golden Circle – November 12, 1950 Breakdown – an arrest (of Michael Shiftkoff) by the secret police in Communist Bulgaria – November 18, 1950 The Price (Mackton and Winston of Company 'D') – a retelling of an American infantry unit's deployment to the Korean War – November 26, 1950 Matthew Lyon – criticism of the Alien and Sedition Acts – December 10, 1950 Weapons for Peace (United Nations) – illustrates the danger of world-wide nuclear war – December 17, 1950 Peace on Earth (Frank Johnson Story) – a veteran's perspective on the end of a war – December 24, 1950 John, Alma, Johnny and Myra – drama about the Occupation of the Baltic states – December 31, 1950 The Capture – retells the story of Nathan Hale – January 7, 1951