APM Special Coverage: The Breakthrough of ’48: When Civil Rights Won the White House

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October 1, 2024
Stephen Smith - Producer, Charles Coughlin - Speaker, Gerald K. Smith - Speaker, Charles Lindbergh - Speaker, Fritz Kuhn - Speaker, Tracey Williams - Interviewee, Orson Welles - Speaker, Harry S. Truman - Speaker, T. Mychael Rambo - Reader, Walter Mondale - Interviewee, Orville Freeman - Interviewee, Strom Thurmond - Speaker, Lyndon Baines Johnson - Speaker, Chris Julin - Editor, Alex Simpson - Technical Director, Samuel G. Freedman - Interviewee and Producer, Angela Davis - Host, Interviewer, and Narrator, Hubert H. Humphrey - Interviewee, Profiled Subject, and Speaker, Perry Finneli - Contributor, Unknown - Interviewee and Speaker
Listen: The Breakthrough of ’48: When Civil Rights Won the White House
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An APM Special Coverage presentation of the documentary, The Breakthrough of ’48: When Civil Rights Won the White House. Based on veteran journalist Samuel Freedman’s celebrated book, Into the Bright Sunshine, this documentary uses first-person interviews and compelling archival audio to resurrect a pivotal moment in American history that remains relevant and revealing today.

At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey demanded that the party step “out of the shadows of state’s rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights.” Southern Democrats defected, creating their own Dixiecrat Party.

Harry Truman, the incumbent president, ran for re-election as the candidate of civil rights. American society and politics were forever changed by his victory, setting the stage for the landmark civil rights laws of the 1960s.

Program begins with news segments.

Awarded:

2025 RTDNA Murrow Award, Radio - Large Market, Region 4 / News Documentary category​

2025 National Headliner Award, second place in TV / Radio - Radio stations documentary or public affairs category

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