Roy Wood Sr
- This article is about the radio personality. For others with the same name, see Roy Wood (disambiguation)
Roy Wood Sr (born September 15, 1915 in Atlanta, Georgia and died October 15, 1995 in Birmingham, Alabama) was an African American radio pioneer, civil rights journalist, commentator, college professor, and entrepreneur.
Wood, father of humorist Roy Wood Jr, and WVTM news anchor Roy L. Wood Jr, grew up in Chicago and attended Wendell Phillips Academy High School. He earned his B.A. from Morehouse College in Atlanta and his M.A. in Communications from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
He began working in 1932 for Jack L. Cooper, the first African-American radio disc jockey, at WSBC in Chicago. From November 1953 to December 1954, Wood was a disc jockey at WJLD-AM/WJLD-FM in Birmingham, Alabama becoming the first Black radio deejay at the station. He then returned to Chicago and worked as both presenter and producer at a series of radio stations. In 1972, Wood co-founded the National Black Network (NBN) as the first Black-owned radio network and produced programming specifically for African Americans. He is remembered as the host of his nationally syndicated “One Black Man’s Opinion,” a series focused on the Black experience in the U.S.
Wood died of prostate cancer in Birmingham, Alabama, at the age of 80.
Honors
- 1967: Humanitarian Award
- 1968: ACOR, Gold Mike Award, Best Editorial
- 1968: Best new TV show for Black's View on the News
- 1969: American Friendship Award
- 1969: Emmy Award, nominee for local TV
- 1970: KOCO, Concerned Citizens Award
- 1970: YMCA, Good Citizenship Award
- 1971: ACOR, Gold Mike Award for Crime Stop
- 1972: Malcolm X College, Certificate of Merit
- 1979: Wendell Phillips Academy High School, Hall of Fame
- 1993: National Association of Black Journalists, Lifetime Achievement Award
References
- Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. (30 October 1995) "Roy Wood, Radio Legend, Dies At Age 80"
- The SPHINX. Baltimore, MD: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. 59 (2 (197305902)): 17. (Fall 1973) "Cover Story: Enviable Record of Brother Roy Wood"
External links
- Birmingham Black Radio Museum archive website