Radio became important part of civil rights movement

March 22, 2006

Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer Brian Ward, PH.D., will discuss "Radio and the Struggle for Civil Rights in the South" during the next lecture of the Michael J. Colligan History Project, Thursday, March 30.

Ward, who is Chair of the Department of History at the University of Florida, will begin his lecture at 7:30pm in the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center.

Ward will provide new insights into the connections among radio, race relations, and the civil rights and black power movements in the South from the 1920s to the mid-1970s. 

"For the mass of African Americans—and whites—living in the region during this period, radio was the foremost source of news and information," he said. "Consequently, it is impossible to fully understand the origins and development of the African American freedom struggle, changes in race consciousness, and the transformation of southern racial practices without recognizing how radio simultaneously entertained, informed, educated and mobilized black and white southerners."

To date, Ward has published four books (for which he has appeared on C-SPAN), and he is currently writing a book exploring the links between the American South and British popular music.