Saturday, December 2, 2017

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 2: New World A Coming's Christmas Episode

For the fourth year, I am going to celebrate Christmas episodes from Old Time Radio by showcasing a program a day (well, I will try).  I expect to have some repeats, but also some new shows featured as well.  If you have Sirius XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148).  Or you can see my previous OTR Christmas entries (or drop to the bottom of this message).  

I first highlighted this series earlier in the year when I focused on African Americans on Old Time Radio.  It is a fascinating series called New World A Coming and it was broadcast over WMCA in New York City in the 1940s to showcase the contributions of that community in broader society.  Over the last few episodes, we have heard representations of African American actors in service roles like valets and house-keepers.  But thanks to this great series from Roi Ottley, we hear a different story over the radio in the 1940s to showcase the contributions of African Americans in all areas of society.  As a personal reference, I remember always looking at the WMCA radio transmitter building near the New Jersey Turnpike on the Belleville Turnpike in the wetlands of Northern Jersey.


Visit to Central Park (New York City) - February 16 & 18, 2017
Visit to Central Park (New York City) - February 16 & 18, 2017

New World A Coming was a a ground breaking book by Roi Ottley in 1943.  Ottley was a journalist who wrote for the Amsterdam News in the 1930s, where he gained a great understanding of the African American Community in New York, especially Harlem.  He went to St. Bonaventure University before transferring to the University of Michigan where he studied journalism (Go Blue!)  In 1943, Ottley wrote New World A-Coming, and provided an overview of life in Harlem from the 1920s and 30s.  The book became a best seller and won the Peabody Award.  The year after the book came out, WMCA in New York City produced a series with Ottley as the writer to share these stories to an even broader audience.  The Amsterdam News would report the following story after the first episode aired:

"A New World" Holds Premier
S.W. Garlington, New York Amsterdam News (March 11, 1944), page 1
"With the sweeping fury of a resurrection - a new world is coming!"  With this announcement last Sunday over WMCA the premier of the radio program "New World A-Coming" was introduced to the audience of the world's leading independent radio station.  As the music started, one was reminded of "Mood Indigo," but instead it was "New World A-Coming," written by Duke Ellington for the series.
The program was both entertaining and informative.  Even more, it did not pull punches in dramatizing injustices to the Negro and suggested a square deal on all fronts.
Canada Lee, famous actor, served as narrator, the student orchestra furnished the music and a host of actors relayed the various stories - bits of Americana one never seen in the daily press.
The City-Wide Citizens Community on Harlem sponsored the program - to run for 26 weeks - in hope of making democracy less of a dream and more of a reality.  Columnist Dorothy Norman spoke for the committee.  Roi Ottley, former Amsterdam-News staff writer and author of the best-selling NEW WORLD A-COMING, from which the series is based, also spoke.
Each Sunday, at 3:03 p. m., for the next 25 weeks.  WMCA and the City-Wide Citizens Committee on Harlem and accompanying artists will present to the radio world a 27-minute program of entertainment and information, designed to reassure the fact that A NEW WORLD IS COMING.
On Christmas Eve in 1944, the episode that I am featuring was first aired.  The episode shared a series of beautiful Christmas carols sung by Muriel Smith and the Boys Choir Of St. Phillips Church, including The First Noel, Hark the Herald Angel's Sing, Joy to the World and others.  In between the songs, there were blunt commentaries by leaders of the African American community about the condition of this population, especially during war time.  It is amazing to think about the progress we had made in the nearly 75 years since this episode aired.  It is disheartening to think about the continued struggles that we continue to face.  The commentaries were from Dr. Channing Tobias, Lester Granger, Roy Wilkins, and series creator Roi Ottley. Please enjoy this beautiful music and think about the progress we have yet to make in the States.

New World A Coming Christmas Episode (December 24, 1944)


Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2017) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) 

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)
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