WDASHistory.org

Excerpt from a 1969 letter from Rev. Andrew Young, who was one of Dr. King's most trusted confidantes, Civil Rights and Southern Christian Leadership Conference pioneer, co-drafter of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, U-S Congressman, Mayor of Atlanta and United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

"...to our knowledge, there is no station in America that has worked harder, longer and with more dedication for Black people than WDAS in Philadelphia."

The entire letter can be seen on slide No.5 of this Documents section

WDAS Building

and the official address was 4001 Edgley Drive

But no one ever used the street number. The letters were addressed to:
WDAS
Belmont Avenue and Edgley Drive
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131

Photo Courtesy of the Jacob Stelman Collection, Athenaeum of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Detailing WDAS history and national civil rights and broadcast industry contributions

Original telegram from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harry Belafonte requesting WDAS General Manager Bob Klein's presence at an urgent meeting in New York. Klein told his children it was a small gathering of key allies from all over the country and Dr. King's plans for the future direction of the Movement were discussed in detail. Also noted was the impact King's protest against the Vietnam War was having on the Civil Rights Movement.

You'll notice the date of the meeting is March 27, 1968 ...

This letter makes reference to the fact that WDAS produced the radio program, Martin Luther King Speaks, for SCLC. Tapes and records of Dr. King's speeches were brought to Philadelphia and SCLC staff worked for weeks with station personnel, creating the programs for national distribution. WDAS AM-FM was the first station in the country to put it on the air. Very quickly, the program was heard nationwide as scores of other radio stations across the U-S also made it part of their regular programming schedules.

In Gallery II , there are rare pictures of Dr. King's time in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Newspaper ad highlighting the 1962 accomplishments of WDAS News, noting they were the ONLY station to 'sweep' the Associated Press Awards and one of only two stations in the country to win a Valley Forge Freedom's Foundation Medal for editorial excellence.

The picture here of Malcolm X is from the Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch - January 25,1962 - taken in WDAS News Director Joe Rainey's office. While the quality is not very good, it's an exception to an old rule. In this case, the caption's worth a thousand words.

The following clips from The Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer detail some of the more dangerous, moment-to-moment aspects of life as a trailblazer, the life-threatening risks taken by the bona fide members of the avant garde.

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[Clips courtesy Paul Lee - Director of Best Efforts, Inc. (BEI), a professional research and consulting service specializing in the recovery, preservation and promotion of global Black history and culture]

More on this dramatic and pivotal evening can be seen in GALLERY I. There is a striking photo of Malcolm X and the heavily armed squad of Philadelphia Police sharpshooters standing guard outside WDAS in the flashbulb-streaked, dark blue winter's night.

©opyright Wynne Alexander

The WDAS broadcast demands for racial equality, their pioneering advocacy, the radio station's charisma and therefore power to create social change, all made the station a target for many rotten people from the Ku Klux Klan to other thugs and gangsters of all colors. The federal government was not exactly on the side of the angels either. There were bomb threats, personal threats and attacks. The station's security detail was on constant 'alert.'

The WDAS Editorial Director, at this time, was Jim Klash. His daughter, Bea was a teenager in high school when an award winning WDAS News program threatened her father's life and changed hers temporarily.

"The 'Help a Junkie Bust a Pusher' campaign was a daring new use of electronic media. At the time, the importing of both marijuana and heroin were a major project for gangsters and was flooding the streets of Philadelphia, poisoning our young people and WDAS wanted to put a stop to it...

Well, after the launch of the campaign, Daddy was coming home and was attacked by some hoodlums, beaten up and they broke his arm. This occurred just a half block from our home on 15th Street. Daddy never took the same route home, he used public transportation, talked to the public, gathered some of his editorial ideas, and the "goons" were waiting for him when he cut through Webster Street. Bob Klein and Max Leon realized this was a very serious matter and notified the police."

(Story continued on next page)

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(Bea Klash continues her recollections)

"We had already received threatening calls at our home and after the attack, police protection was provided. A patrol car was stationed outside our home. I was a teenager and suddenly not allowed to answer the phone, can't answer the doorbell. If I went to the front door, I was told by the police officers, in no uncertain terms, to go back indoors. Driven by the police to and from school. Wasn't taken in by the front doors of West Philadelphia High School but, through the entrance of the delivery trucks. At the end of the school day was escorted out the same way. Had to lie down on the back seat until we were about ten blocks from the school. That was really a very scary time for everyone involved with this campaign. Bomb threats were leveled at the station as well. Lives were threatened. But, as always the stalwart, brave and committed people- Max Leon, Bob Klein and Jim Klash and others would stay the course. "

Detailing the WDAS civil rights record

"However difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because 'Truth crushed to earth will rise again.' "

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Montgomery, Alabama 1965

©opyright 2007-2015 WYNNE ALEXANDER All Rights Reserved

Photos Copyright Bob Klein Archive unless otherwise specified