American Labor Party Radio Broadcasts of 1950

You can be forgiven if you have never heard of the American Labor Party (ALP). It was established in 1936, splitting from the Socialist Party of America (SPA). It's political activity was almost exclusively limited to the state of New York. In 1956, the party was terminated by its New York state committee. So unless you are a New Yorker, and over the age of 65, you'd have to read a lot of history to bump into the ALP.  (Note the SPA only existed from 1899 - 1972)


In 1948, the ALP wasn't going to support Harry Truman. So they backed Progressive Party candidate Henry A. Wallace. Wallace won a whopping 2.4% of the vote, which was more than Teddy Roosevelt, but also obviously a loss for the Progressive Party and the ALP. However, they re-elected Vito Marcantonio in the United States House of Representatives. They also elected Leo Isacson to fill a vacant seat in a Bronx district but lost in the general election that November. Let's take a look at the candidates.

Candidates:

• W. E. B. DuBois for U.S. Senate 
• Vito Marcantonio for U.S. Senate  
• Janet Scott, for U.S. Senate  
• Dr. Clementina Paolone, for Lieutenant Governor
• John T. "Jack" McManus, for NY State Governor
• Frank Scheiner, NY State Attorney General 
• Paul L. Ross, for NYC Mayor
• Michael Jiminez, for Comptroller
• Harriet Wolff, for State Assembly
• Dorothy Bloom, for State Assembly
• Frances Smith, for State Assembly
• Scott K. Gray, Jr.,
• Nicola Rossi 

The problem might have been the Communists. The Communist Party USA openly endorsed the Progressive Party. By connection, some of the ALP staff were Marxists, and some Progressive Party candidates that the ALP supported were alleged communists. Notably among them was Lee Pressman who was not allegedly a communist. He was exposed in 1948 by HUAC as a paid spy for Soviet intelligence. Lee was a member of the Progressive Party (not the ALP) but the stink was smeared all over the left-wing parties during the red scare. Nonetheless the ALP ran real candidates in 1950, even if things were looking grim. The State of New York even managed to kick Wolff, Gray, Rossi and Bloom off the ballot before election day. More here and here.

By October The candidates were getting on-air to promote their campaigns. You can see that not all the candidates hit the airwaves. Wolff, Gray, Rossi and Bloom were already gone. DuBois appeared the most often, but Ross and Paolone were able to make multi-lingual appeals. Most appearances were on WMCA even though WEVD, was literally founded by the Socialist Party of America. But The Jewish Daily Forward had taken an increasing control over programming moving the station toward the center. According to Nathan Godfried's oft-cited but rarely read text, Legitimizing the Mass Media Structure, the SPA at least had turned to NBC and other channels to make its political message heard. 

There is little to corroborate most of the appearances listed on the schedule. But the DuBois appearances are well-documented, with audio, video and even personal papers known in the DuBois Papers held at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst [LINK]. But the below list is not complete. DuBois own papers include a speech by candidate Frances Smith given at WMCA on October 27th.

DATE	CALLS	TIME	CANDIDATE
10-09-1950	WMCA	9:30 - 9:45 PM	Dr. W. E. B DuBois
10-12-1950	WMCA	9:30 - 9:45 PM	John T. "Jack" McManus
10-15-1950	WEVD	3:00 - 3:15 PM	Paul L. Ross (Yiddish)
10-16-1950	WMCA	9:30 - 9:45 PM	Paul L. Ross
10-19-1950	WMCA	9:30 - 9:45 PM	Dr. W. E. B DuBois
10-22-1950	WEVD	3:00 - 3:15 PM	Paul L. Ross (Yiddish)
10-22-1950	WOR	9:15 - 9:30 PM	DuBois & McManus
10-23-1950	WMCA	9:30 - 9:45 PM	McManus & Dr. Paolone
10-25-1950	WMCA	7:30 - 7:45 PM	Cong. Vito Marcantonio
10-26-1950	WMCA	9:30 - 9:45 PM	Dr. W. E. B DuBois
10-29-1950	WEVD	3:00 - 3:15 PM	Paul L. Ross (Yiddish)
10-29-1950	WHOM	4:00 - 4:15 PM	Dr. Clementina Paolone (Italian)
10-30-1950	WMCA	9:30 - 9:45 PM	Paul L. Ross
10-31-1950	WMCA	9:30 - 9:45 PM	Dr. Clementina Paolone
11-01-1950	WMCA	8:30 - 8:45 PM	Jack McManus
11-02-1950	WMCA	7:30 - 7:45 PM	Cong. Vito Marcantonio
11-03-1950	WMCA	9:30 - 9:45 PM	Dr. W. E. B DuBois
11-05-1950	WEVD	3:00 - 3:15 PM	Paul L. Ross (Yiddish)
11-05-1950	WHOM	4:00 - 4:15 PM	Dr. Clementina Paolone (Italian)
11-05-1950	WJZ	6:45 - 7:00 PM	McManus & Dr. Paolone
11-06-1950	WMCA	9:15 - 10:00 PM	DuBois, McManus, Ross &  Paolone

By the 1950s, the ALP had lost much of its support to the rival Liberal Party of New York, in part because of accusations of communist influence in the ALP.  In the end, most of the Republican ticket was elected. Only the incumbent U.S. Senator, Herbert H. Lehman [D], managed to retain his seat. DuBois only won 3.93% of the vote for the U.S. Senate, losing out to incumbent Herbert H. Lehman [D], and trailing well behind Joe R. Hanley [R].

The New York stations they appeared on are an interesting mix: WMCA, WEVD, WHOM, WJZ and WOR. There are easily dozen large New York City AM stations which were on air in 1950. My guess is that they focused their budget on Manhattan.

There were also Television broadcastsbut all of them were on WPIX. WPIX-TV only signed on in 1948 as Channel 11(VHF.)  From 1948 to 1965, WPIX produced Three Star News, a 6:30pm newscast that ran for half an hour. So the speeches would have aired shortly afterward.

DATE	CALLS	TIME	CANDIDATE
10-08-1950	WPIX	7:15 - 8:00 PM	Dr. W. E. B DuBois
10-15-1950	WPIX	7:15 - 8:00 PM	Dr. Clementina Paolone
10-22-1950	WPIX	7:15 - 8:00 PM	Paul L. Ross

The sheet also had a section for their Upstate radio schedule. (below) Not all of these statison even exist anymore. WXKW operated on 850 kHz from 1948–1953 signing off after litigation around some engineering issues. Sounded the same year was 1150 WRUN in Utica. They changed calls to WUTI after a sale in 2008. 590 WROW was founded in 1947, still on air today they switched from Mututal to ABC in 1950. WEVT there is a typo, that has to be 1280 WVET, which also which also launched in 1947. They kept those calls until 1961, currently they are WHKT. 950 WARC also was founded that year, they changed calls to WBBF in 1953. 1260 WNDR predates them by one year, starting in 1946 just like 1450 WKAL in Utica. 620 WAGE started in 1941, and flipped the calls to WHEN after a sale in 1954.

DATE	CALLS	CITY	TIME	CANDIDATE
10-22-1950	WROW	Albany	9:15 - 9:30 PM	DuBois & McManus
10-22-1950	WEBR	Buffalo	9:15 - 9:30 PM	DuBois & McManus
10-22-1950	WEVT	Rochester	9:15 - 9:30 PM	DuBois & McManus
10-22-1950	WNDR	Syracuse	9:15 - 9:30 PM	DuBois & McManus
10-22-1950	WKAL	Utica-Rome	9:15 - 9:30 PM	DuBois & McManus
11-05-1950	WXKW	Albany	6:45 - 7:00 PM	Paolone & McManus
11-05-1950	WKBW	Buffalo	6:45 - 7:00 PM	Paolone & McManus
11-05-1950	WARC	Rochester	6:45 - 7:00 PM	Paolone & McManus
11-05-1950	WAGE	Syracuse	6:45 - 7:00 PM	Paolone & McManus
11-05-1950	WRUN	Utica-Rome	6:45 - 7:00 PM	Paolone & McManus

It appears that 970 WEBR was the most established station on the upstate list, having signed on in 1924. Those calls moved to 1440 in 2012, and the 970 stick became WDCZ. They even predate 1380 WKBW which was founded in 1926, they had been on 1520 kHz for decades even by this broadcast in the fall of 1950. So here we see old stations, new stations... just what appears to be a budget-driven slice of the radio dial. Charitably one could argue that by design, a random looking selection might represent a random selection of the electorate. So I consulted the Mighty Fybush, and even he agreed it appeared to be "stations where you could buy a block of time inexpensively."

After the 1950 drubbing, the ALP regrouped and in 1952, they endorsed Progressive Party candidate Vincent Hallinan for President and Corliss Lamont for US Senate. Thaty went nowhere. In the 1954 election, the ALP failed to garner 50,000 votes for any of its candidates and it lost its place on the New York ballot. They ceased to exist shortly thereafter. Maybe they should have got time on 1010 WINS?

La Colpa De Ella Radio

In 1497 Giovanni Cabotto sailed to North America. He was sponsored by the English who refer to him in their text books as John Cabot. He was probably the first Italian in America. Subsequently around 5.5 million Italians immigrated to the U.S. from 1820 to 2004. By 1880 Italian-language newspapers began circulating in New England cities with large Italian-American populations, like New York. 40 years later the process repeated itself with radio.

The period following that has been called the golden age of Italian-language radio. From 1920 to 1950, it was possible at almost any hour to find some kind of Italian radio broadcast. New York City for example,  had four stations (WHOM-AM, WOV-AM, WEVD-AM, and WBNX-AM) which carried significant Italian programing. Other smaller markets with population densities also had their own local outlets.In Philadelphia Italian radio programs aired on Philadelphia’s 10-watt WABY-AM, which is not to ignore the programs on  WPEN-AM in Philadelphia and WAAB-AM in Boston

In New York, Italian-language radio began in 1916. That year WGL-AM was bought by John Iraci, a Sicilian-born importer. Iraci changed the call sign to WOV-AM.  The last movement in that era was probably the flip at WHOM. In 1946 two Italian newspapermen purchased WHOM and converted the programming to Italian. In between those two bookends it's important to note that there was political suspicion of Italian-language programming because of Mussolini's fascism, and role in WWII. In 1935, at the height of WWII, Italy nationalized Radio Bari and Radio Roma, putting them under the direct control the Ministry of Press and Propaganda. They began airing anti-British messages. Signs were put up in US Cities "Don't Speak the Enemy's Language."  It didn't just mean German and Japanese, it also meant Italian. Under the Sedition act, U.S. agents rounded up Italian nationals suspected of disloyalty.

Only when the pope threw his weight behind the allies did that American prejudice finally fade. (Not that there weren't pro-fascist broadcasts in English, ex. Father Coughlin) but race played a notable role in that era.) Over the subsequent decades,studies by Churchhill (1940) and Roche(1982) found a huge change in the listening habits of ethnic and particularly Italian-American citizens. They sampled groups in New Jersey, New York and Providence and found that successive generations were markedly less likely to listen to ethnic programming. They essentially proved that their cultural Americanization was a rapid process.

In the early 1950s Italian radio was in decline. Even WOV began to change. Programs like La Rosa, La Famiglia Rinaldi, Buon Pranzo, La Colpa E' Della Radio, and Donna Billonia faded away. The few FM stations carrying Italian-language programming gave hours to the Italian programs while AM stations began to take aim at Hispanic markets.  In New York WHBI-FM and in Philly’s WDAS-FM took on Italian-language programs. But As FM rose in prominence over AM, those hours dried up as well. Ethnic programming migrated back to AM, but the decline was terminal.

Interracial Host and Co-Host

I came across a quote from Ahmet Ertgun that sent me thumbing through my radio history books for attribution:

"The hot show in New York in those days - the two hot shows - were Willie and Ray - Willie Bryant and Ray Carroll, and the Symphony Sid Show..."

The quote was in the context of Alan Freed but of the other two shows mentioned I only knew one. Symphony Sid was Sid Torin. But who were Willie and Ray? Ray Carroll was the first white DJ to co-host a program with a black DJ. He started out co-hosting with another white jazz man Symphony Sid on WMCA. I think ray was at WWRL prior to that.  Ray and Sid paired up for just a year in 1947.  Bryant was already the emcee at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem which is how he got his nickname. He appeared in a couple films. In 1946, CBS hired him as the first black host of a network radio program, "Night Life. By then Ray Carroll was already on WMCA with Sid. Sid Hired Bryant to flip records.  Ray and Willie started their program together that February and stayed at it for 6 years on 1480 WHOM-AM. In 1952 they added a second program together on WOV. Sometimes it aired live from Birdland.

Willie Bryant was born in New Orleans and raised in Chicago. He did vaudeville tours tap dancing with the Whitman Sisters, and later the Chocolate Revue with Bessie Smith. He played the Shim Sham Club in Harlem with Leonard Reed where they invented the dance, the Shim Sham. In 1934 he put together his first band, The Wilie Bryant Orchestra. Between 1935 and 1938 they cut 26 sides mostly for Victor and Bluebird. They were truly excellent. Give it a listen here. 

Their program was cancelled in April of 1954 by the VP of WHOM, Charles Bolton. Bryant said it was the first time he'd been booted from a job in 30 years. He described the firing as political. Bolton denied it but he was the same guy that later that month very publicly "banned" some slightly risque songs from the station playlist. At the time WHOM was actively pursuing a license from the FCC for UHF TV license. They had first applied for channel 31 in 1952. They abandoned in in April 1954. Maybe Bolton was feeling some pressure about his Interracial program? Maybe it was because Alan Freed had just hit town and White DJs playing R&B were just safer.

Ray just went back to WMCA and was hosting an R&B program, "Night Watch" by May of 1954. Like any career his had peaked, he'd already been in radio 20 years. In 1957 he moved to WICC-AM in Bridgeport, CT to host a morning program. By the early 1970s he was hosting an interview program called "Sounding Board" on 1450 WNAB-AM in Bridgeport, CT. Bryant tried to move into television he was already negotiating terms but it wasn't until 1949 his program debuted. He hosted "Uptown Jubilee" a Tuesday night black variety show on CBS-TV.  It was short-lived. In 195, he got another network radio show, ABC's "Rhythm on Radio. He bought a bar in the Bronx. None of that lasted either. He moved to California and did a little more radio on KSAN and KALI. He died in 1964. More here.

Symphony Sid

Symphony Sid was the man that brought bebop to the masses. We don't know for sure how Sidney Tarnopol became known as Symphony Sid. In that era, it was common for immigrants to shorten or modify their surnames to make them sound less "ethnic."  That's how Sid Tarnopol became Torin. But that doesn't answer the question at all. One story says that he worked at a record store, the "Symphony Shop." I can find no record of any such retailer. Another version claims that it came with a rhyming introduction by announcer Walter Tolmes. The most believable version is that it came from the classical program he DJ'd on his first radio gig at 1380 WBNX-AM.More here.

Sid was born in 1909, in New York City. and grew up in Brooklyn. And that's where he made his debut in radio as a Jazz DJ on WBNX in the Bronx. He was already using the name Sidney Torin.  More here and here. I can't find a starting year, but generally I assume it to be around 1931, to fit the rest of his timeline. It is often written that he also worked at WBMS-AM, whose calls did reside in New york in this era, but that station was absorbed by 1450 WHOM-AM in 1933. The calls moved to Boston, as did Mr Torin later on, not until 1951, and took a job at another jazz station, 1090 WBMS. He didn't return to New York until 1956.

By 1937 on WBNX he was hosting a jazz show, his "After School Swing Session."  By 1940 he was also DJingat WHOM for his "After-Hours Swing Session.".  He followed that with overnight shifts at WMCA and WJZ . On WMCA it was an all night jazz show "the royal Roost" on WMCA around 1948.  That graveyard shift at WJZ was "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid." Somewhere in there he also was on WWRL. He was already the best known jazz DJ in New York. They even started wring songs about him. In 1947, Arnett Cobb recorded "Walkin' With Sid" on Apollo records. In 1952 King Pleasure recorded "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" on the Prestige label. The George Shearing Quartet recorded it the next year for MCA, but so had Charlie Parker and Sonny Stitt.

In Boston he ruled the airwaves on WBMS and also did a turn or two at WCOP. He came back a few years later and landed at WOV, hosting the Birdland Jazz show.  He stayed for just a year, giving up the mic to B. Mitchell Reed in 1956 (probably). She spent the next year at WEVD, spinning salsa. He later moved to WADO-AM, still spinning jazz, he stayed there until 1964 when the station first went to an all-Spanish format. It was a shame they didn't keep him on.  the jazz community gave him a lot of flak for shunning jazz at WEVD, he eventually added jazz to the last hour of his program. He retired in 1970 to the Florida keys, and in 1976, briefly un-retired to do shifts on a Miami jazz FM station, 93.9 WBUS.. that today we call WMIA. He died on September 14th, 1984.

FM Super-casters

In the United States, Fm radio stations are limited to a maximum ERP (effective radiated power) of 100,000 watts. But some radio stations have been grandfathered in above that bar. Lots of helpful info here:
http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/fm-max.html

The 5 biggest FM's in America are:
#1 WBCT 93.7 Grand Rapids, MI -320,000 watts
#2 WOOD 105.7 Grand Rapids, MI -265,000 watts
#3 WOMC 104.3 Detroit, MI -190,000 watts
#4 WNCI 97.9 Columbus, OH -175,000 watts
#5 WSLQ 99.1 Roanoke, VA -150,000 watts

The top 5 highest HAAT is as follows:
WHOM 94.9 Mt. Washington, ME -1130 meters
KRUZ 103.3 Santa Barbara, CA -915 meters
KPFK 90.7 Los Angeles, LA -846 meters
WIPR 91.3 San Juan, PR -825 meters
WSLQ 99.1 Roanoke, VA -607 meters

But watts alone do not cover maximum area. HAAT (height above average terrain) and the terrain itself are very signifigant to actual contour. )Population density could also be considered a factor as miles of tundra are undesirable.) The practical combination of the two is the real winner.

Largest largest 1 mv/m contours are:
#1 KRUZ103.3 Santa Barbara, CA
#2 KPFK 90.7 Los Angeles, CA
#3 WIPR 91.3 San Juan, PR
#4 WHOM 94.9 Mt. Washington, NH *largest contour over land

NOTE: the largest covered area for a station actually belongs to:
*KAWZ 89.9 Twin Falls, ID http://www.csnradio.com/

While they run at a mere 100,000 watts in Twin Falls, they also simulcast via satellite on 320 repeaters and translators blanketing the U.S. with politically conservative religious talk. Even if each transmitter only covered 1 mile they would reach an area three times that of any legitimate local broadcaster. The FCC ruled that time-shifted satellite programming constitutes "locally originating programming" thus evading the obligation to actually serve the communities they reside in.