PRINTER'S NO. 2153
No. 359 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY BISHOP, MANDERINO, THOMAS, PAYTON, OLIVER, WATERS,
YOUNGBLOOD, PARKER, CRUZ AND SABATINA, JUNE 28, 2007
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JUNE 28, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Recognizing the many varied and significant contributions of
2 WDAS-AM.
3 WHEREAS, In 1951, Doctor Max M. Leon and Bob Klein undertook
4 a revolutionary endeavor, instituting one of the nation's first
5 African-American radio stations, WDAS-AM of Philadelphia,
6 Pennsylvania; and
7 WHEREAS, This industry-leading broadcast facility had a
8 galvanizing social impact in this Commonwealth and, in fact,
9 across this nation; and
10 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM was not just a radio station, it was a
11 cultural institution bringing its listeners aspects of every
12 known societal necessity from award-winning news coverage to the
13 finest musical programming and governmental and religious
14 affairs; and
15 WHEREAS, Thanks to the work of pioneering station WDAS-AM,
16 there were many other such stations finally on the air, but none
17 were ever more effective in standing for justice and encouraging
1 enlightenment here and across the nation; and
2 WHEREAS, The realities of Jim Crow America were still very
3 much alive in 1951, including racially motivated murders of
4 social progressives, segregated schools, housing, public
5 transportation and drinking fountains; and
6 WHEREAS, This was the climate into which Dr. Leon and Mr.
7 Klein, in their everyday actions, finessed, asked, implored and
8 when necessary demanded that Philadelphia and white Americans
9 respect the African-American community; and
10 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM was the only station to stand up for the
11 rights of minority broadcasters, successfully suing Arbitron
12 Industries, proving they were racist in their listenership
13 accounting methods of America's minorities, and it paved the way
14 for equality in the marketplace for all minority broadcasters
15 and with the ensuing enhanced revenues proved to all of
16 corporate America the vitality and economic strength of the
17 African-American community; and
18 WHEREAS, By the mid 1950s, WDAS-AM had established one of the
19 first and only full-service broadcast news departments providing
20 major coverage of every groundbreaking civil rights breakthrough
21 with firsthand reporting from Brown v. Board of Education of
22 Topeka, Rosa Parks' refusal to take a back seat, the Montgomery
23 bus boycott, the Little Rock, Arkansas, riots, the Birmingham
24 church bombings, the integration of Alabama University, Dr.
25 King's marches on Washington, DC and his winning the Nobel Peace
26 Prize and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the
27 Voting Rights Act of 1965; and
28 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM was responsible for bringing Dr. King to
29 Philadelphia, sponsored a parade down Market Street in
30 Philadelphia introducing Dr. King to the city, commissioned
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1 buses taking Freedom Riders to the South and supplied buses to
2 take people to all of Dr. King's marches; and
3 WHEREAS, The unprecedented and innovative programming efforts
4 of WDAS-AM are credited with keeping Philadelphia calm in the
5 wake of Dr. King's assassination, as a result of which
6 Philadelphians mourned their loss in the nonviolent manner Dr.
7 King always advocated; and
8 WHEREAS, In a letter written one year after Dr. King's
9 assassination, King confidant and Ambassador Andrew Young said
10 this about WDAS-AM:
11 For the past number of years WDAS and its manager Robert
12 Klein have been of great service to Dr. King and the Southern
13 Christian Leadership Conference. They have supported us
14 editorially, financially, spiritually and with a great amount
15 of their air time...To our knowledge there is no station in
16 America that has worked harder, longer and with more dedication
17 for Black people than WDAS in Philadelphia;
18 and
19 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM celebrated a resounding victory against
20 racism when it supported and partnered with Cecil Moore, Esq.,
21 in his victorious effort to integrate Girard College; and
22 WHEREAS, For many years WDAS-AM was instrumental in leading,
23 supporting and encouraging the various consciousness-raising and
24 financial boycotts to curtail United States business involvement
25 in South Africa until that racist government ended its
26 systematic human rights violations; and
27 WHEREAS, Years earlier, WDAS-AM was the spearhead when the
28 Rev. Dr. Leon Sullivan launched his boycott against the
29 Greyhound Bus Company in Philadelphia, successfully racially
30 integrating the staff of drivers and personnel; and
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1 WHEREAS, From Bright Hope Baptist to the Church of the
2 Advocate and many smaller stops in between, the "overground"
3 railroad forged by WDAS-AM performed major works of social
4 progress in partnership with the leaders of every major church
5 in Philadelphia and neighboring states; and
6 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM held numerous "radiothons" raising money to
7 benefit churches and people in need; and
8 WHEREAS, One of the most famous of these marathon broadcasts
9 was a gun surrender program, in which gang members and others
10 brought in their weapons and pledged themselves to the
11 principles of nonviolence; and
12 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM was responsible for the legendary Freedom
13 Shows where the finest rhythm and blues talents in the world
14 were brought into Philadelphia for the benefit of worthy civil
15 rights and social organizations; and
16 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM was the home of one of the first African-
17 American talk shows in the history of this country, the first in
18 Philadelphia and probably the first on the East Coast: "The
19 Listening Post," with Joe Rainey; and
20 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM charities raised and distributed hundreds of
21 thousands of pre-1980 dollars to thousands of people in the
22 tristate area, year after year; and
23 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM contributed to the enormous popularity of
24 rhythm and blues music and helped elevate rhythm and blues
25 artists at a time when African-American artists could not get
26 their records played on white radio stations; at a time when
27 African-American radio talent could not get hired at white
28 stations; at a time when African-American artists were being
29 paid as little as one-tenth of what white artists were making
30 and at a time when African-American artists could not walk
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1 through the lobbies of the clubs in which they were appearing;
2 and
3 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM was the first station in the country to play
4 records by Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, the Beatles, Marvin Gaye,
5 Buddy Holly, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Will Smith; and
6 WHEREAS, WDAS-AM air personalities were instrumental in
7 helping talent get to the right record company, most notably
8 Louise Williams Bishop getting Aretha Franklin signed with
9 Atlantic Records and Joe "Butterball" Tamburro helping Sister
10 Sledge, along with numerous instances involving WDAS-AM
11 legendary program director Jimmy Bishop; therefore be it
12 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize WDAS-AM
13 for its extraordinary cultural, spiritual and historic acts of
14 bravery, standing for the causes of freedom and justice in
15 helping secure the rights and pursuit of excellence for African
16 Americans, which eventually led to the securing of rights for
17 other minorities in our country, notably women, Native Americans
18 and Hispanics, among others.
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