WERD (defunct)

WERD was the first radio station owned and programmed by African Americans. The station was established in Atlanta, Georgia in early October 1949.

WERD Atlanta was the first radio station owned and operated by African-Americans. (WDIA in Memphis was on the air in 1948 doing black -- or Negro as it was called back then -- programming, but the owners were white). Jesse B. Blayton Sr., a well-respected businessman and accountant from Atlanta purchased it in the late 1940s, and hired his son Jesse Jr. to run it. Also hired was "Jockey" Jack Gibson, among the most popular black DJs. The station was housed in the Masonic building on Auburn Avenue, then one of the wealthiest black neighborhoods in the United States. Located in that same building was the headquarters of the new Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by Dr. Martin Luther King. It has been said that King would beat the roof of the office with a broomstick as a signal to send the microphone down when he wanted to make public addressesFact|date=September 2008.

WERD was at 860 AM. While WDIA had Nat D. Williams, WERD had "Jockey Jack" Gibson, a friend of Blayton from Chicago [Tom Opdyke, "Retro Scope - Life As It Used to Be - WERD Is a Word in Black History," "The Atlanta Constitution", October 31, 1994.] . Blayton sold the station in 1968 ["Jesse B. Blayton Jr., Headed Radio Station WERD for 20 Years," "The Atlanta Constitution", November 8, 1986.] .

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*cite web|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2859|title=WERD|author=Etling, Laurence W.|date=2006-04-12|accessdate=2007-05-18|work = New Georgia Encyclopedia
*cite book|author=Barlow, William|authorlink=William Barlow|title=Voice Over: The Making of Black Radio|location=Philadelphia, PA|publisher=Temple University Press|year=1999|isbn= 978-1-56639-667-7