Destination Freedom

Destination Freedom was a series of weekly radio programs which was produced by WMAQ in Chicago. The first set ran from 1948 to 1950 and it presented the biographical histories of prominent African-Americans such as George Washington Carver, Satchel Paige, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Lena Horne. The scripts for those shows were written by Richard Durham. Studs Terkel voiced some of the radio characters. Hugh Downs also served as an announcer in both the initial and 1950 series.

The second series of shows ran from 1950 to 1951, and it was produced without Durham. This second series featured patriotic themed dramas which were largely based on Americanism and anti-Communism.

The show was the brainchild of African-American journalist and author Richard Durham. In cooperation with The Chicago Defender, he began this series over NBC Chicago outlet WMAQ in June 1948, with scripts emphasizing the progress of African-Americans from the days of slavery to the ongoing struggle for racial justice. Airing in Sunday-morning public-service time, the series built a steady audience in the Midwest with inspirational stories of social progress, earning strong support from Civil Rights organizations, and offering employment to a wide range of African-American performers. Episodes began with a stanza from the spiritual "Oh, Freedom".

Destination Freedom premiered on June 27, 1948, on Chicago radio WMAQ. Durham's vision was to reeducate the masses on the image of African American society, since he believed that it was tainted with inaccurate and derogatory stereotypes. Week after week, Durham would generate all-out attacks on these stereotypes by illustrating the lives of prominent African-Americans. For two years, Durham wrote script after script for Destination Freedom, receiving no financial compensation for his effort. In 1950, Durham's financial needs forced him to accept an offer by Don Ameche to write material for him. It is also said that Durham's relationship with NBC and WMAQ was not entirely harmonious. Continuing without Durham, the final year of the program turned to general themes of "American freedom," without the sharp focus on the African-American experience. This, WMAQ hoped, would create a show to rival Paul Revere Speaks, which was a popular show at the time. For about 50 years, the show was long forgotten until some transcripts were found, and the characters voiced by Fred Pinkard, Oscar Brown Jr., Wezlyn Tilden, and Janice Kingslow,  were heard once more.

Two early recordings, "A Garage in Gainesville" and "Execution Awaited", are listed in National Recording Registry. In 1949 it received a first-place commendation from the Ohio State University Institute for Education by Radio.

Richard Durham episodes



 * 1948 episodes
 * The Knock-Kneed Man – Crispus Attucks – June 27 and July 30, 1950
 * Railway to Freedom – Harriet Tubman – July 4
 * Dark Explorers – Moors who helped explore New Spain – July 11
 * The Denmark Vesey Story – community leader in Charleston, South Carolina (c. 1767–1822) – July 18
 * The Making of a Man – Frederick Douglass: Part 1 – June 27
 * The Key to Freedom – Frederick Douglass: Part 2 – August 1
 * The Heart of George Cotton – doctors Daniel Hale Williams and Ulysses Grant Dailey – August 8 and October 31.
 * Truth Goes to Washington – Sojourner Truth – August 15
 * Arctic Autograph – Matthew Henson – August 22
 * The Story of 1875 – Charles Caldwell – August 29
 * Poet in Pine Mill – James Weldon Johnson – September 5
 * The Father of the Blues – W. C. Handy – September 12
 * Boy with a Dream – J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. – September 19
 * Shakespeare of Harlem – Langston Hughes – September 26
 * Citizen – Toussaint l'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution – October 3
 * Little David – Joe Louis – October 10
 * The Boy Who Was Traded for a Horse – George Washington Carver – October 17
 * Echoes of Harlem – Duke Ellington – November 7
 * One Out of Seventeen – Mary McLeod Bethune – November 14
 * The Rhyme of the Ancient Dodger – Jackie Robinson – November 21
 * Investigator for Democracy – Walter Francis White – November 28
 * Autobiography of a Hero – Doris ("Dorie") Miller – December 5
 * The Pied Piper Versus Paul Revere – Albert Merritt – founder of the Boys Club of Martinsville, Indiana – December 12
 * Choir Girl from Philadelphia – Marian Anderson – December 19
 * Mike Rex – author Willard Motley – December 26
 * 1949 episodes
 * Maiden Speech – Oscar Stanton De Priest – January 2
 * The Boy Who Beat the Bus – Governor William H. Hastie – January 9
 * The Chopin Murder Case – Hazel Scott – January 16
 * The World's Fastest Human – Jesse Owens – January 23


 * Last Letter Home – 332nd Fighter Group (Tuskegee Airmen) – January 30 and August 13, 1950
 * Searcher for History W.E.B. Du Bois – February 6
 * The Death of Aesop – February 13 and November 27
 * Peace Mediator – Dr. Ralph J Bunche – February 20 and August 6, 1950
 * The Houses That Paul Built – Paul R. Williams – February 27
 * Do Something! Be Somebody! – Canada Lee – March 6
 * Up From Slavery – Booker T. Washington – March 13
 * Black Boy – Richard Wright – March 20
 * Transfusion – Charles R. Drew and his work on blood transfusion – March 27
 * Pagan Poet – Countee Cullen – April 3
 * Woman with a Mission – Ida B. Wells – April 10
 * Before I Sleep – poet Paul Laurence Dunbar – April 17
 * Apostle of Freedom – Richard Allen – April 24
 * Help the Blind – Josh White – May 1
 * The Ballad of Satchel Paige – May 15
 * The Secretary of Peace – Benjamin Banneker – May 22
 * The Saga of Melody Jackson – Henry Armstrong – May 29
 * Anatomy of an Ordinance – Alderman Rev. Archibald Carey – June 5
 * Negro Cinderella – Lena Horne – June 12
 * Ghost Editor – Roscoe Dunjee – June 19
 * Harriet's Children (First anniversary program) – June 26
 * Norfolk Miracle – Dorothy Maynor – July 3 (rebroadcast February 2002 by KGNU)
 * Tales of Stackalee (Black folklore hero) – July 17
 * The Legend of John Henry – a retelling of the folk hero story – July 24
 * The Trumpet Talks – Louis Armstrong – July 31
 * The Long Road – Mary Church Terrell – August 7
 * Black Hamlet, Part I – Henri Christophe (life as a slave) – August 14
 * Black Hamlet, Part II – Henri Christophe (rise to power) – August 21
 * Segregation Incorporated – National Committee on Segregation in the Nation's Capital, 1947–51 – August 28; rebroadcast in January 2003 by KGNU
 * The Saga of Senator Blanche K. Bruce – September 4
 * The Tiger Hunt – the 761st Tank Battalion in World War II – September 11
 * Poet in Bronzeville – Gwendolyn Brooks – September 18
 * A Garage in Gainesville – retelling of a lynching in a small southern town – September 25
 * Execution Awaited – a simulated court trial examining prejudice and racism – October 2
 * Father to Son – Adam Clayton Powell Sr. and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. – October 9, rebroadcast in August 2002 by station KGNU
 * Of Blood and the Boogie – Albert Ammons – October 16
 * Diary of a Nurse – Jane Edna Hunter – October 23
 * Keeper of the Dream – Captain Hugh Mulzac, commander of the SS Booker T. Washington – October 30
 * The Man Who Owned Chicago – Jean Baptiste Point du Sable – November 6
 * Blind Alley Symphony – Dean Dixon – November 13
 * The Tale of the Tobacco Auctioneer — Kenneth R. Williams – November 20


 * The Death of Aesop – February 13 and November 27
 * Joe Rainey vs. The Status Quo – Joseph Homer Rainey – December 4
 * 1950 episodes
 * The Birth of a League – the Great Northern Migration and formation of the Chicago Urban League – January 15


 * Lawyer of Liberty – William Henry Huff – January 22
 * Portrait of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson – January 29
 * Housing: Chicago – February 5
 * Recorder of History – Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founded Negro History Week in Chicago – February 12


 * Brotherhood Week Begins at Home – February 19 – Tribute to Hugh C. McMannan
 * The Umfunddisi of Ndotsgeni – Todd Duncan – February 26
 * The Atlanta Thesis – E. Franklin Frazier – March 5
 * Premonition of the Panther – Sugar Ray Robinson – March 12
 * The Making of a Balladeer – Lonnie Johnson – March 19
 * The Liberators (Part I) – William Lloyd Garrison – March 26
 * The Liberators (Part II) – Wendell Phillips – April 2
 * The Buddy Young Story – April 9
 * The Fifth District Crime Fighter (Captain Kinzie Bleuitt ) – a dramatization of law enforcement efforts in South Side, Chicago – April 16
 * The Dance Anthropologist – Katherine Dunham – April 23


 * The Case of Samuel Johnson – judge Jane Bolin – May 7
 * The Sorrow Songs – Spirituals – May 14 Durham won a Peabody Award for this performance in this episode.
 * John Hope, Educator – May 21
 * The Grave Diggers' Handicap – Isaac Murphy – June 4
 * The Shy Boy – Fats Waller – June 11
 * The Case of the Congressman's Train Ride – Richard Westbrooks, who represented Arthur Mitchell in a US Supreme Court case – June 18
 * The Angel of Federal Street – a tale about heaven and South Side, Chicago – nurse Ruth Blue Turnquist – June 25
 * Kansas City Phone Call – Nat King Cole – July 2
 * Mr. Jerico Adjusts a Claim – William Nickerson Jr. and the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company – July 9
 * Test by Fire – Charlotte Hawkins – July 16
 * Sing a Song for Children – Pruth McFarlin – July 23, rebroadcast in September 2002 on KGNU

Post-Durham episodes – Paul Revere "Patriotic Freedom" format

 * Patriotic Format – opening show for 1950, a discussion of freedom amongst historic figures – October 15, 1950
 * United Nations – promoting the establishment of the organization – December 17, 1950
 * Magic Words – a recap of the basic rights of freedom – November 5, 1951
 * The Golden Circle – beginnings of the Knights of the Golden Circle – November 12, 1950
 * Breakdown – an arrest (of Michael Shiftkoff) by the secret police in Communist Bulgaria – November 18, 1950
 * The Price (Mackton and Winston of Company 'D') – a retelling of an American infantry unit's deployment to the Korean War – November 26, 1950
 * Matthew Lyon – criticism of the Alien and Sedition Acts – December 10, 1950
 * Weapons for Peace (United Nations) – illustrates the danger of world-wide nuclear war – December 17, 1950
 * Peace on Earth (Frank Johnson Story) – a veteran's perspective on the end of a war – December 24, 1950
 * John, Alma, Johnny and Myra – drama about the Occupation of the Baltic states – December 31, 1950
 * The Capture – retells the story of Nathan Hale – January 7, 1951
 * Dwight David Eisenhower – retells the story of his life up to his presidential election – January 14, 1951
 * Freedom of Assembly (Jeff Maxwell Story) – review of the right – February 4, 1951
 * Forced Confession – promotes Due Process of Law – February 18, 1951
 * Anna Zenger – the first woman to publish a newspaper in America – February 25, 1951
 * Benjamin Drake Story – drama about local people opposing unruly, oppressive people – March 4, 1951
 * The Dick Draper Story – drama about employment rights in the United States – March 11, 1951
 * Thomas Wright, American Citizen – About private efforts, including coercion, to thwart housing segregation in the United States – March 18, 1951
 * Citizen Whitney – a dramatic criticism of Marxism and religion – March 25, 1951
 * The Jones Family – a dramatization about eminent domain – April 8, 1951
 * Fred Custer Story – a dramatization about attending college and medical school – April 15, 1951
 * Reverend Browns Half Acre – concerns property ownership – April 22, 1951
 * Korean Frontline – Stories about the Korean War and communism in China – April 29, 1951
 * Harper College Story (The Test) – Discusses education – May 6, 1951
 * Open for Business – the difficulties and rewards of owning a small retail business – May 13, 1951
 * Judge Farwell's Story – reflections of a US Federal Judge – May 19, 1951
 * Anna's Story – an immigrant from Sweden – January 21, 1951
 * Russell Thomas Story: Coal Miner to Pharmacist – Illustrates the opportunity for advancement available in America – June 2, 1951
 * Crisis in Avondale (The Avondale Story) – a drama about how free speech can be irresponsibly misused – June 9, 1951
 * Mike Yankovich, Minnesota Miner (Decision) – a drama about the costs and benefits of unionization in mining – June 16, 1951
 * Wanted, a Witness – a drama about the civic responsibility to assist in solving crimes – June 23, 1951