Sherman Maxwell (1907-2008)

Sherman Maxwell (1907-2008)

Sherman “Jocko” Maxwell was born December 18, 1907, in Newark, New Jersey. He was an African American sports broadcaster, journalist, and postal worker and best known as a chronicler of the Negro Baseball League. Sherman Leander Maxwell was the son of William and...
Richard Durham (1917-1984)

Richard Durham (1917-1984)

Richard Durham’s Destination Freedom radio program, which aired on WMAQ in Chicago, Illinois from June 27, 1948 until its cancellation in August of 1950, was unlike anything else being broadcast over the airwaves. For over two years audiences tuned in every Sunday...
Jack Leroy Cooper (1888-1970)

Jack Leroy Cooper (1888-1970)

Jack L. Cooper is widely acknowledged as the first African American radio broadcaster. Cooper, born in Memphis, Tennessee, on September 18, 1888, was the youngest of 10 children. He was raised in a poor, single-parent home and, at the age of 10, quit school and moved...