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Zenith short wave and regular broadcast radio, ca. late 1930s. Astatic Corporation booth microphone, ca. 1940s. Courtesy of the Michigan State University Museum collections. Acc.#3853.59 and 2000:115.45.1. Photos by Pearl Yee Wong.
Since its creation in the 1920s, radio has been instrumental in boosting the popularity of gospel music-and vice versa. Gospel music received its first radio exposure through church broadcasts, "live" quartet programs, and shows hosted by secular DJs. By the 1930s, there was a national demand for gospel announcers, radio personalities whose programs would feature only gospel music.
During this decade, the Reverend James L. Murray, launched one of the earliest known gospel programs in Detroit, a quartet-centered show on WMBC-AM 1400. Since that time, hundreds of men and women from various backgrounds have served as gospel announcers in the Motor City, some as brokers who paid for their air time, others as compensated station employees. Among them is Van Douglas (Howard D. Morison), whose broadcasting career began at WMBC in 1935 and lasted for sixty years. Also included is Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg, an inductee into the Black Radio and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame, who went from radio pioneer at WDIA-Memphis, the country's first Black-oriented station, to become one of the few Black women station owners (WQBH-AM) in the country.
Most announcers will never approach Morison's longevity, and few in any field will attain "The Queen's" national status. But all of the announcers inspire and encourage Detroiters using gospel music.
