Andrew Dawkins, 1994 Oral History
Title
Andrew Dawkins, 1994 Oral History
Description
Rev. Andrew “Sugar Daddy” Dawkins (b. Feb 24, 1930, d. Dec 9, 2014), radio announcer with two seminal radio stations, the first at WBCO AM 1450 in Bessemer in 1950 and the second at WEUP AM 1600, Huntsville, the latter Alabama’s first Black owner radio station. Andrew retired from radio to the Ministry in Montgomery, Alabama. (Please see second Dawkins interview from 2012 and interview of Don Solomon on Leroy Garrett)
Creator
Andrew Dawkins
Bob Friedman
Publisher
Birmingham Black Radio Museum
Date
February 15, 1994
Contributor
Tom Kulowitz
Mark Usry
Emily Bibb
Format
JPG
PDF
MP3
Language
English
Interviewer
Bob Friedman
Interviewee
Andrew "Sugar Daddy" Dawkins
Transcription
Transcript of audio snippet:
Andrew Dawkins: In ’50 and I was there…I went there in ’50, I believe. The station started a little bit before that because I came there in ’50 from a station in Tuscaloosa.
Bob Friedman: Which one?
A: WTBC.
B: TBC.
A: Mmhmm.
B: Was it black formatted?
A: No, what happened, I was in college there and I went there one year and I asked them to run a show there. They turned me down and they chose one of my classmates and he went home for the summer and I ran the show for the summer and as I was running the show for the summer, Mr. Woods from WBCO came, who had heard me, and invited me to Birmingham, which is my home.
B: Uh huh.
A: And so naturally I transferred schools and went to Miles and started working for BCO.
B: Well, now, who is Mr. Woods?
A: Mr. Woods was the manager. He was the manager.
B: Do you remember his first name?
A: Try to remember his first name now…Woods, Woods, Woods. I can’t remember his first name right now.
B: Ok.
A: Slim, tall fellow. Well, not tall but he was a slim fellow about 5’9” but he was a very fine fellow. And Lanier owned it then.
B: Right. Was it true…do you remember if J.L. Doss had a piece of it?
A: J.L. Goss?
B: Doss. You know, the fellas…the family that owned WJLD.
A: No, I don’t think they…Big Jess owned that station alone.
B: Uh huh. Ok.
A: As far as I know only Big Jess owned that station. Big Jess Lenier.
B: Right. Became the mayor.
A: Yes, became the mayor. He was the mayor before he became the mayor.
B: Is that right?
A: Yep. Big Jess was the word in Bessemer, Alabama.
B: Uh huh.
A: Mmhmm.
B: And you were on the site on 17th Street and 3rd Avenue?
A: Yeah, I was there.
B: What was it like? What was the studio like?
A: It was a small studio. We only had the ground floor there. We had a reception area. We had a large studio and then the control room on one side, I guess it would have had to be on the north side of the station. And on the south side was the suite of offices.
Andrew Dawkins: In ’50 and I was there…I went there in ’50, I believe. The station started a little bit before that because I came there in ’50 from a station in Tuscaloosa.
Bob Friedman: Which one?
A: WTBC.
B: TBC.
A: Mmhmm.
B: Was it black formatted?
A: No, what happened, I was in college there and I went there one year and I asked them to run a show there. They turned me down and they chose one of my classmates and he went home for the summer and I ran the show for the summer and as I was running the show for the summer, Mr. Woods from WBCO came, who had heard me, and invited me to Birmingham, which is my home.
B: Uh huh.
A: And so naturally I transferred schools and went to Miles and started working for BCO.
B: Well, now, who is Mr. Woods?
A: Mr. Woods was the manager. He was the manager.
B: Do you remember his first name?
A: Try to remember his first name now…Woods, Woods, Woods. I can’t remember his first name right now.
B: Ok.
A: Slim, tall fellow. Well, not tall but he was a slim fellow about 5’9” but he was a very fine fellow. And Lanier owned it then.
B: Right. Was it true…do you remember if J.L. Doss had a piece of it?
A: J.L. Goss?
B: Doss. You know, the fellas…the family that owned WJLD.
A: No, I don’t think they…Big Jess owned that station alone.
B: Uh huh. Ok.
A: As far as I know only Big Jess owned that station. Big Jess Lenier.
B: Right. Became the mayor.
A: Yes, became the mayor. He was the mayor before he became the mayor.
B: Is that right?
A: Yep. Big Jess was the word in Bessemer, Alabama.
B: Uh huh.
A: Mmhmm.
B: And you were on the site on 17th Street and 3rd Avenue?
A: Yeah, I was there.
B: What was it like? What was the studio like?
A: It was a small studio. We only had the ground floor there. We had a reception area. We had a large studio and then the control room on one side, I guess it would have had to be on the north side of the station. And on the south side was the suite of offices.
Duration
Full Interview: 57 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Audio snippet: 2 minutes
Files
Collection
Citation
Andrew Dawkins and Bob Friedman, “Andrew Dawkins, 1994 Oral History,” The Birmingham Black Radio Museum, accessed October 22, 2024, https://thebbrm.org/item/99.
Item Relations
| This Item | dcterms:relation | Item: Don Solomon, Oral History |
| Item: Andrew Dawkins, 2012 Oral History | dcterms:relation | This Item |
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