The Legend Of John Henry

Destination Freedom was a series of weekly radio programs that was produced by WMAQ in Chicago. The first set ran from 1948 to 1950 and it presented the biographical histories of prominent African Americans such as George Washington Carver, Satchel Paige, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Lena Horne. The scripts for those shows were written by Richard Durham. Studs Terkel voiced some of the radio characters. Hugh Downs also served as an announcer in both the initial and 1950 series.

Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Updated Jun 7, 2026.

“The Legend Of John Henry.” Destination Freedom. Radio broadcast, July 24, 1949.