People Waller, Judith C.

Judith C. Waller

Judith Cary Waller (February 19, 1889 – October 28, 1973) was an American broadcasting pioneer. Despite the fact that she knew nothing about radio at the time, she became the first station manager of Chicago radio station WMAQ when it went on the air in 1922. She is believed to be the first female radio station manager in the United States. During her tenure as station manager, Waller was responsible for obtaining broadcast rights for Chicago Cubs home games for WMAQ and for hiring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as Amos 'n' Andy after they left WGN radio over syndication rights. Waller tried to interest the CBS radio network in the program with no success. NBC brought the program to its Blue Network three years before its purchase of WMAQ in 1931. Waller was also responsible for the long-running discussion program University of Chicago Round Table on radio. The program began at WMAQ; it was then heard on the NBC Radio Network for over twenty years. She was also active in various educational programs, having started a children's radio club centered around the educational programs broadcast by WMAQ; there were more than 275,000 children enrolled in the club with more than 100 area schools participating in the program. Waller also began a program at Northwestern University to provide professional training to college students interested in broadcasting as a profession. Read more at Wikipedia...

Born: 1889
Died: 1973

Occupation(s): pioneer

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