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14 flagships · 25 briefs · 8 dossiers · 965 entities — record updated October 4, 2026

WVON 1450 AM ('The Voice of the Negro') / Midway Broadcasting Corporation

CTL-E-1377 · Business · other · 1963-present (Black-owned era: 1979-present via Midway Broadcasting)

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Chicago's legendary Black radio station. Founded 1963 by white owners (Chess Records); became Black-owned in 1979 when former DJs Pervis Spann and Wesley South formed Midway Broadcasting and reclaimed the 1450 frequency; all-talk Black format since 1986.

Notes

Merged into canonical KG 2026-10-03 from ECON-001; source entity IDs: CTL-DR-ECON-001:ECON-064; source research type(s): business.

Sources

Record CTL-E-1377 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 6 sources (3 primary) · CTL research: ECON-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Cite this record

Cite as: CultureTechLens, “WVON 1450 AM ('The Voice of the Negro') / Midway Broadcasting Corporation (CTL-E-1377),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1377/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “WVON 1450 AM ('The Voice of the Negro') / Midway Broadcasting Corporation (CTL-E-1377).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1377/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). WVON 1450 AM ('The Voice of the Negro') / Midway Broadcasting Corporation (CTL-E-1377) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1377/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “WVON 1450 AM ('The Voice of the Negro') / Midway Broadcasting Corporation (CTL-E-1377).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1377/

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From the Archive

The archive in pictures

Black Chicago’s musical record, kept frame by frame. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.

Instructors in roller skating at Savoy Ballroom. Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941
Instructors in roller skating at Savoy Ballroom. Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Saturday crowd at the Palm Tavern bar, 47th Street, Chicago, 1941
Saturday crowd at the Palm Tavern bar, 47th Street, Chicago, 1941Photo: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress
Roller skating at the Savoy Ballroom on Saturday night. Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941
Roller skating at the Savoy Ballroom on Saturday night. Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

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