Destination Freedom

Journalist Ricahard
Durham

African Americans were not exactly invisible on Old Time Radio. Black performers regularly appeared on the variety shows of the era and African Americans were regulars on various radio shows. At the same time, there were very few shows that starred Black performers or that were centred on the Black experience. An exception was a short-lived show that aired on WMAQ in Chicago. In its early days Destination Freedom aired biographies of important African Americans, from historical figures such as Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver to more recent celebrities such as Lena Horne and Satchel Page.

Destination Freedom was created by Richard Durham, a Black journalist who had written for New Masses, the Chicago Defender, the Chicago Star, and the Illinois Standard, in cooperation with the Chicago Defender. Richard Durham's goal with the show was to dispel many of the stereotypes about African Americans through an accurate portrayal of Black history and the Black experience. Hugh Downs served as the announcer on the series, while Studs Terkel provided many of the voices of the characters on the show. In its early days it featured many Black peformers The show would open with the spiritual, "Oh, Freedom."

Destination Freedom debuted on June 27 1948 and aired on Sunday mornings. Its first episode dealt with Crispus Attucks, the whaler, sailor, and stevedore who was the first person killed in the Boston Massacre. Over the course of 1948 Destination Freedom dealt with such subjects as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Langston Hughes, Jackie Robinson, Duke Ellington. In 1949 it dealt with such subjects as Hazel Scott, Jesse Owens, W.E.B. Dubois, Canada Lee, Booker T. Washington, Satchel Page, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, and Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. In 1950 it dealt with such subjects as the foundation of the Chicago Urban League, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Fats Waller, and Nat King Cole.

Richard Durham regularly found himself at odds with the station's censors. An episode on Nat Turner, who led a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831, was outright rejected. The censors edited the episode on Frederick Douglass so heavily that it would not filled the entire half hour of the show, and was the cuts were restored only after protest from Richard Durham and the African American cast.

Destination Freedom received a good deal of acclaim. Both Adlai Stevenson, then governor of Illinois, and legendary radio producer Norman Corwin praised the show. It won an award from the Institute for Education by Radio at Ohio State University. Unfortunately, such praise could not save the show. The changing times, with the nation becoming more conservative in early Fifties, led to WMAQ withdrawing their support of Richard Durham. Richard Durham, who had not made any money from Destination Freedom, took a job with Don Ameche, writing material for the performer.

This was not the end of Destination Freedom. although the show as it continued might as well have been a different show. After being off the air since July 16 1950, Destination Freedom returned on October 15 1950. Its focus was no longer on Black history and the Black experience, but now on more generalized themes dealing with freedom in America. It ultimately ended its run on June 23 1951.

Destination Freedom was not simply unique in being written by a Black journalist and featuring a largely African American cast. It dealt with events from Black history and other aspects of the Black experience at a time when it was often controversial to do so. The show certainly did not shy away from an accurate portrayal of racism in the United States, either in the past or in the present. Unfortunately, much of the United States was not ready at the time for such discussion, something that played a role in its change in format. In the end, Destination Freedom was a pioneering show that examined topics rarely, if ever, explored by other radio shows of the time.