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 One of three children born to William and
Beatrice Knight, Adrian Kenneth Knight, also known as "Ken" Knight,
was born February 6, 1909, in Headland, Alabama. Mr. Knight was one of the
South's leading Black pioneer broadcasters and television personalities. during
his childhood, Ken Knight's parents relocated to Daytona Beach, Florida, where
he attended public school and later earned a diploma from Campbell Street High
School. Ken went on to better himself by pursuing and completing
his college education at Hampton Institute in Virginia. Mr. Knights introduction
to broadcasting resulted as a $5.00 bet which resulted from a complaint to a
friend about the performance of a radio announcer. Mr. Knight bet that he could
do better. He won the bet. Self trained, Mr. Knight moved to Atlanta, Georgia,
where he became program director, assistant manager and the first
African-American announcer in the South, when all-white radio station WROD-AM
1310 hired him. He is credited with starting a movement in which African
Americans asked for more of their music and announcements to be aired.
Mr. Knight initiated training programs to prepare other African
Americans for careers in broadcasting. He originated the Ken Knight Show
which was the first African American television show in Jacksonville.
The purpose of the show , according to Mr. Knight "is not only to
show the talents of our people in music and other forms of
entertainment, but, also, present to the viewing public other fields of
achievement by Negroes." The show emceed by Mr. Knight featured
live Gospel music and first appeared on WJXT in December 1961. Artists appearing
on the show included "The Heavenly Echoes," "Sons of
Jubilee Quartet," "The Franklin Trio," "The Golden
Jubilee Quartet," and Marva Wyche and David Coleman. Mr. Knight
produced the "Knight Train" show, a very popular show that
aired on WRHC. Before moving on to WPDQ, he became vice president of
WRHC. He founded a 10-city radio network called the "Rattler
network" which broadcasted the annual Orange Blossom football
classic from the orange Bowl in Miami. Mr. Knight operated a firm known
as Coverage, Inc., which handled a variety of projects, including
"Home Shows," a 'Sweet Chariot" program and a Souvenir
Book. Many credited Mr. Knight with the increase in Black Artists'
sales. Mr. Knight received the Meritorious Service award from Governor
Herman Talmadge. He was appointed to serve on the Foreign Policy news
Conference team under Secretary of State Dean Rusk. He was the only
African American broadcaster form Florida to serve in this capacity. Mr.
Knight helped to found the National Association of Radio and TV
Announcers in 1955 and served as treasurer, vice-president and chairman
of the board of the aforementioned organization. Without a doubt, Ken Knight
was a success story, and he proudly credited much of his success
to his wife Frenchie and his mother. Ken Knight passed away on September,
12, 1973. Ken Knight will always be remembered and honored as one of
America's most successful and accomplished African Americans.
In Memory
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