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Black-history docudrama anthology · NBC (WMAQ, Chicago)

Destination Freedom

June 27, 1948 – November 19, 1951 · 161 broadcasts

Destination Freedom was the boldest Black radio drama of its era -- a weekly half-hour that aired over NBC's Chicago station WMAQ from June 1948, written almost single-handedly by the journalist Richard Durham in cooperation with the Chicago Defender. Each week it dramatized the life of a great Black American -- Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Jackie Robinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Louis Armstrong and dozens more -- in scripts that gave their subjects complex, defiant, fully human voices at a time popular culture allowed Black characters almost none. A largely African American Chicago repertory company brought the scripts to life: Oscar Brown Jr., Fred Pinkard, Janice Kingslow and Wezlyn Tilden, with the young Studs Terkel among the players and Hugh Downs announcing. The series won a Peabody Award, an Ohio State commendation, and later saw two episodes -- 'A Garage in Gainesville' and 'Execution Awaited' -- named to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. After Durham left in 1950 the title was retooled into a patriotic, Cold-War anthology that ran into 1951. Durham was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.

Collection status: 102 of 161 held (63% complete)
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Episode Spine

Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.

1948

June 27, 1948 The Knock-Kneed Man Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the life of Crispus Attucks, the dockworker of African and Native descent felled at the 1770 Boston Massacre and remembered as the first to die for American independence.
July 4, 1948 Railway to Freedom Listen (MP3)
Harriet Tubman's early years -- the escape from bondage that set her on the road to becoming the fearless 'Moses' of the Underground Railroad.
July 11, 1948 Dark Explorers Listen (MP3)
Set in 1541 Peru after the death of Francisco Pizarro, two enslaved gravediggers -- an African teacher and an Indian -- recall the Black and Native explorers who opened the New World.
July 18, 1948 The Denmark Vesey Story Listen (MP3)
The story of Denmark Vesey, who won his freedom by lottery and, two decades before the Civil War, planned the 1822 Charleston slave revolt. (Durham's script was restaged in 1957 on CBS Radio Workshop as 'Sweet Cherries in Charleston.')
July 25, 1948 The Making of a Man Listen (FLAC)
Part one of the life of Frederick Douglass, the enslaved boy who taught himself to read on the road to becoming an abolitionist orator.
August 1, 1948 The Key to Freedom Listen (MP3)
Part two concludes the story of Frederick Douglass as editor, abolitionist, and internationally known spokesman for human rights.
August 8, 1948 The Heart of George Cotton Listen (MP3)
The pioneering heart surgery of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams and Dr. Ulysses Grant Dailey, told through a stabbing victim whose life hangs on a then-unthinkable operation.
August 15, 1948 Truth Goes to Washington Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes Sojourner Truth, the formerly enslaved abolitionist and women's-rights orator who carried her testimony to Washington.
August 22, 1948 Arctic Biography Listen (MP3)
The polar expeditions of Matthew Henson, the explorer who stood with Robert Peary at the reach for the North Pole.
August 29, 1948 The Story of 1875 Listen (MP3)
The story of Charles Caldwell, the Mississippi state senator of the Reconstruction era who had himself been enslaved.
September 5, 1948 The Poet of Pine MILL Listen (MP3)
James Weldon Johnson -- teacher, poet, editor and NAACP leader -- and his fight for a federal anti-lynching law.
September 12, 1948 The Father of the Blues Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes W. C. Handy, the composer and bandleader crowned the 'Father of the Blues.'
September 19, 1948 Boy with a Dream Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Dr. J. Ernest Wilkins, the mathematician and public servant, as a boy set on an improbable dream.
September 26, 1948 Shakespeare of Harlem Listen (MP3)
The life and verse of Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance poet, illustrated with several of his own works.
October 3, 1948 Citizen Toussaint Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Toussaint L'Ouverture, the general who led the Haitian Revolution and broke slavery on the island.
October 10, 1948 Little David Listen (MP3)
The rise of Joe Louis, the heavyweight champion whose ring victories carried the weight of a people's hopes.
October 17, 1948 The Boy Who Was Traded for a Horse Listen (MP3)
George Washington Carver, born into slavery and once 'traded for a horse,' who grew into the great scientist of Southern agriculture.
October 31, 1948 The Heart of George Cotton
November 7, 1948 Echoes of Harlem Listen (MP3)
Duke Ellington and the assembling of the orchestra that turned Harlem's sound into an American art form.
November 14, 1948 One Out of Seventeen Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Mary McLeod Bethune, the educator who built a college from almost nothing and advised presidents.
November 21, 1948 The Rhyme of the Ancient Dodger Listen (MP3)
The story of Jackie Robinson, breaker of baseball's color line, told partly in verse.
November 28, 1948 Investigator for Democracy Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Walter White, the NAACP leader whose fair complexion let him investigate lynchings from the inside.
December 5, 1948 Autobiography of a Hero Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes Dorie Miller, the Navy messman who manned a gun at Pearl Harbor and won the Navy Cross.
December 12, 1948 The Pied Piper Versus Paul Revere Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes the reformer Albert Merritt in a contest of conscience framed against Paul Revere's legend.
December 19, 1948 The Choir Girl from Philadelphia Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Marian Anderson, the contralto barred from Constitution Hall who sang instead to the nation from the Lincoln Memorial.
December 26, 1948 Mike Rex Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the Chicago novelist Willard Motley, author of 'Knock on Any Door.'

1949

January 2, 1949 Maiden Speech Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes Oscar De Priest, the Chicago congressman who in 1929 became the first Black member of the House in the twentieth century.
January 9, 1949 The Boy Who Beat the Bus Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes William H. Hastie, jurist and governor of the Virgin Islands, in a boyhood contest of will.
January 16, 1949 The Chopin Murder Case
January 23, 1949 The World's Fastest Human
January 30, 1949 The Last Letter Home
February 6, 1949 Searcher for History
February 13, 1949 The Death of Aesop
February 20, 1949 Peace Mediator Listen (MP3)
Ralph Bunche, the political scientist whose United Nations mediation of the Arab-Israeli armistice would earn him the Nobel Peace Prize.
February 27, 1949 The Houses That Paul Built Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Paul R. Williams, the Los Angeles architect who designed landmark homes and public buildings.
March 6, 1949 Do Something! Be Someone! Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes Canada Lee, the boxer-turned-actor of stage and screen later broken by the Hollywood blacklist.
March 13, 1949 Up from Slavery Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Booker T. Washington and his rise from slavery to found Tuskegee Institute.
March 20, 1949 Black Boy Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the novelist Richard Wright, author of 'Native Son' and 'Black Boy.'
March 27, 1949 Tranfusion Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Dr. Charles R. Drew, the physician whose blood-plasma research saved countless wartime lives.
April 3, 1949 Pagan Poet Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes Countee Cullen, the lyric poet of the Harlem Renaissance.
April 10, 1949 Woman with a Mission Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Ida B. Wells, the journalist whose anti-lynching crusade named a national shame.
April 17, 1949 Before I Sleep Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Paul Laurence Dunbar, the first Black American poet to win a national readership.
April 24, 1949 Apostle of Freedom
May 1, 1949 Help the Blind Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the blues and folk singer Josh White, a voice of protest on record and stage.
May 15, 1949 The Ballad of Satchel Paige Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes Satchel Paige, the legendary pitcher of the Negro Leagues who reached the majors in his forties.
May 22, 1949 The Secretary of Peace
May 29, 1949 The Saga of Melody Jackson Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Henry Armstrong, the only boxer to hold three world titles at once.
June 5, 1949 Anatomy of an Ordinance Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Chicago alderman Archibald Carey and a fight over a city civil-rights ordinance.
June 12, 1949 Negro Cinderella Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Lena Horne, the singer and actress who refused the demeaning roles Hollywood offered.
June 19, 1949 Ghost Editor Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Roscoe Dunjee, the Oklahoma editor and civil-rights organizer.
June 26, 1949 Harriet's Children Listen (MP3)
A first-anniversary program looking back across the season -- 'Harriet's Children,' the figures the series had dramatized.
July 3, 1949 Norfolk Miracle Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the concert soprano Dorothy Maynor.
July 17, 1949 The Legend of Stackalee Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the Black folk hero Stack Lee (Stagolee) of ballad legend.
July 24, 1949 The Legend of John Henry Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the steel-driving folk hero John Henry.
July 31, 1949 The Trumpet Talks Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Louis Armstrong, whose trumpet remade American music.
August 7, 1949 The Long Road Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Mary Church Terrell, educator, suffragist and a founder of the NAACP.
August 14, 1949 Black Hamlet Part I Listen (MP3)
Part one on Henri Christophe, the revolutionary who rose to crown himself king of Haiti.
August 21, 1949 Black Hamlet Part II Listen (MP3)
Part two concludes the tragic reign of Haiti's Henri Christophe.
August 28, 1949 Segregation, Incorporated Listen (MP3)
A dramatization of a civil-rights committee report on the machinery of segregation.
September 4, 1949 The Saga of Senator Blanche K. Bruce Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Blanche K. Bruce, the Mississippi Reconstruction senator who had been born enslaved.
September 11, 1949 The Tiger Hunt Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the 761st Tank Battalion, the pioneering Black armored unit of World War II.
September 18, 1949 Poet in Bronzeville Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the poet Gwendolyn Brooks, chronicler of Chicago's Bronzeville, soon to win the Pulitzer Prize.
September 25, 1949 A Garage in Gainsville Listen (MP3)
In this study of prejudice, a white businessman is pressed to join a mob against his Black partner, wrongly accused of assaulting a white woman -- an episode later named to the National Recording Registry.
October 2, 1949 Execution Awaited Listen (MP3)
A companion drama on prejudice and the machinery of a wrongful execution -- also preserved in the National Recording Registry.
October 9, 1949 Father to Son Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes the Powells, father and son, of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church and Congress.
October 16, 1949 Of Blood and the Boogie Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.
October 23, 1949 Diary of a Nurse
October 30, 1949 Keeper of the Dream Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Captain Hugh Mulzac, first Black American to command a merchant ship, the SS Booker T. Washington.
November 6, 1949 The Man Who Owned Chicago Listen (FLAC)
Dramatizes Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, the Haitian trader who founded the settlement that became Chicago.
November 13, 1949 Blind Alley Symphony
November 20, 1949 The Tale of the Tobacco Auctioneer
November 27, 1949 The Death of Aesop
December 4, 1949 Joe Rainey Versus the Status Quo

1950

January 8, 1950 The Capture
January 15, 1950 The Birth of a League Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the founding of the National Urban League and its work for Black economic opportunity.
January 22, 1950 Lawyer of Liberty
January 29, 1950 Portrait of Bill Robinson
February 5, 1950 Housing: Chicago
February 12, 1950 Recorder of History Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of Negro History Week and 'father of Black history.'
February 19, 1950 Brotherhood Week Begins at Home
February 26, 1950 The Umfundisi of Ndotsheni
March 5, 1950 Atlanta Thesis
March 12, 1950 Premonition of the Panther Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson at the height of his craft.
March 19, 1950 The Making of a Balladier
March 26, 1950 The Liberators Part I Listen (MP3)
Part one on the abolitionist editor William Lloyd Garrison and his paper 'The Liberator.'
April 2, 1950 The Liberators Part II
April 9, 1950 The Buddy Young Story Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes the football and baseball star Claude 'Buddy' Young.
April 16, 1950 The Fifth District Crime Fighter Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Captain Kinzie Bluitt of the Chicago police.
April 23, 1950 The Dance Anthropologist Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Katherine Dunham, the dancer and anthropologist who built a Black dance tradition on the concert stage.
May 7, 1950 The Case of Samuel Johnson
May 14, 1950 The Sorrow Songs
May 21, 1950 John Hope, Educator
June 4, 1950 The Grave Digger's Handicap
June 11, 1950 The Shy Boy Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Thomas 'Fats' Waller, the exuberant stride pianist and songwriter.
June 18, 1950 The Case of the Congressman's Train Ride
June 25, 1950 The Angel of Federal Street Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Ruth Blue Turnquest and her community work.
July 2, 1950 Kansas City Phone Call Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes Nat King Cole, the pianist and velvet-voiced singer.
July 9, 1950 Mr. Jericho Adjusts a Claim Listen (MP3)
Dramatizes William Nickerson, a founder of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company.
July 16, 1950 Test by Fire
July 23, 1950 Sing a Song for Children
July 30, 1950 The Knock-Kneed Man
August 6, 1950 The Peace Mediator
August 13, 1950 Last Letter Home Listen (MP3)
A restaging of 'The Last Letter Home,' the story of the 332nd Fighter Group.
October 15, 1950 Patriotic Format Listen (FLAC)
October 22, 1950 (untitled)
October 29, 1950 (untitled)
November 5, 1950 (untitled)
November 12, 1950 The Golden Circle Listen (MP3)
November 19, 1950 Michael Shipkoff Listen (MP3)
November 26, 1950 Mackton and Winston of Company `d' Listen (MP3)
December 3, 1950 (untitled)
December 10, 1950 Matthe Lyon Listen (MP3)
December 17, 1950 United Nations Listen (MP3)
December 24, 1950 Frank Johnson Story Listen (MP3)
December 31, 1950 John, Alma, Johnny and Myra Listen (MP3)

1951

January 7, 1951 Nathan Hale Story Listen (MP3)
January 14, 1951 Dwight David Eisenhower Listen (MP3)
January 21, 1951 Anna's Story Listen (MP3)
January 28, 1951 (untitled)
February 4, 1951 Jeff Maxwell Story Listen (MP3)
February 11, 1951 (untitled)
February 18, 1951 Forced Confession Listen (MP3)
February 25, 1951 The Story of Anna Zenger Listen (MP3)
March 4, 1951 Benjamin Drake Story Listen (FLAC)
March 11, 1951 Dick Draper Story Listen (MP3)
March 18, 1951 Thomas Wright, American Citizen Listen (MP3)
March 25, 1951 Citizen Whitney Listen (MP3)
April 1, 1951 (untitled)
April 8, 1951 The Jones Family Listen (MP3)
April 15, 1951 Fred Custer Story Listen (MP3)
April 22, 1951 Reverend Brown's Half Acre Listen (MP3)
April 29, 1951 Korean Frontline Listen (MP3)
May 6, 1951 Harper College Story Listen (MP3)
May 13, 1951 Open for Business Listen (MP3)
May 19, 1951 Judge Farwell's Story Listen (MP3)
May 26, 1951 Anna's Story Listen (FLAC)
June 2, 1951 Russell Thomas Story Listen (MP3)
June 9, 1951 The Avondale Story Listen (MP3)
June 16, 1951 Mike Yankovich, Minnesota Miner Listen (MP3)
June 23, 1951 Wanted: a Witness Listen (MP3)
June 30, 1951
July 7, 1951
July 14, 1951
July 21, 1951
July 28, 1951
August 4, 1951
August 11, 1951
August 18, 1951
August 25, 1951
September 1, 1951
September 8, 1951
September 15, 1951
September 22, 1951
September 29, 1951
October 8, 1951
October 15, 1951
October 22, 1951
October 29, 1951
November 5, 1951
November 12, 1951
November 19, 1951
The Story

Destination Freedom was the boldest Black radio drama of its era -- a weekly half-hour that aired over NBC's Chicago station WMAQ from June 1948, written almost single-handedly by the journalist Richard Durham in cooperation with the Chicago Defender. Each week it dramatized the life of a great Black American -- Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Jackie Robinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Louis Armstrong and dozens more -- in scripts that gave their subjects complex, defiant, fully human voices at a time popular culture allowed Black characters almost none. A largely African American Chicago repertory company brought the scripts to life: Oscar Brown Jr., Fred Pinkard, Janice Kingslow and Wezlyn Tilden, with the young Studs Terkel among the players and Hugh Downs announcing. The series won a Peabody Award, an Ohio State commendation, and later saw two episodes -- 'A Garage in Gainesville' and 'Execution Awaited' -- named to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. After Durham left in 1950 the title was retooled into a patriotic, Cold-War anthology that ran into 1951. Durham was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.

Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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