His first radio series was Democracy – USA, sponsored by the Chicago Defender.[6] It aired in 1946 on Chicago's
WBBM.[14] The next year he started dramatic Black
soap opera radio series, Here Comes Tomorrow on
WJJD.[14]
Destination Freedom
Following his early radio writings, Durham wrote and produced the
radio dramaDestination Freedom.[15] In cooperation with The Chicago Defender, he began this series over NBC Chicago outlet
WMAQ in July 1948, with scripts emphasizing the progress of African-Americans from the days of slavery to the ongoing struggle for racial justice.[16] Two episodes – "A Garage in Gainesville" and "Execution Awaited" – are part of the
Library of CongressNational Recording Registry.[17]
While an editor of Muhammed Speaks Durham created a
soap opera for Chicago's
WTTW television station. Bird of the Iron Feather was the first all-Black television soap opera, and ran for 21 episodes, three times a week starting in January 1970. The show's title came from a speech by
Frederick Douglass given in 1847.[20][21][22][23]
During
Harold Washington's 1982 mayoral election Durham worked to improve Washington's political speeches.[4]
Personal life
From at least the late 1940s until his death, Durham was married to fellow Northwestern alumnus and prominent Chicago educator Clarice Davis (1919–2018), with whom he had one child, a son, Mark.[29][30][31][32] Durham himself died on April 27, 1984, of a heart attack while on a trip to New York City.[33]: 177 Following a memorial cemetery at A.A. Rayner and Sons mortuary, his cremated remains were interred at
Burr Oak Cemetery in
Alsip, Illinois.[33]: 2–7, 178
^"Bird of the Iron Feather". Television Academy Interviews. October 23, 2017.
Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
^"Photo Standalone 17 [No Title]". The Chicago Defender. March 6, 1954. p. 8.
ProQuest492884645. A Lively Square Dance captures the feet and fancy of children of Chicago's Ellis Community Center... . In the photo, Mark Durham and Eleanor Newhoff pause to catch their breath. Mark is the son of Mrs. Clarice Davis Durham, director of the school.
^"High Schools Are Proud of Star Seniors: Classmates Choose Star Seniors; Hyde Park". The Chicago Defender. June 19, 1966. p. 2, Sec. 10.
ProQuest178977830. Mark Durham, 17, the star senior from Hyde Park High School, is a football player who writes poetry. [...] He said he caught the 'writing bug' from his father, who is also a free-lance writer. ...
Pecinovsky, Tony (December 9, 2015). "'Word Warrior' a good book on democratic media". People's World. Reviewing the book Word Warrior by Sonja D. Williams
Ellett, Ryan (2012). Encyclopedia of Black Radio in the United States, 1921–1955. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc.
ISBN978-1476693392.
OCLC1369512406.
Ellett, Ryan (July 29, 2017).
"Destination: Radio, A Look at Some of Chicago's African-American Radio Pioneers, Pt. 2". Wistful Vistas: Old Time Radio. Blog at Wordpress.com. Retrieved 18 November 2023. The material in this article was adapted from entries in Ryan Ellett's book – listed above. (Originally published in The Nostalgia Digest, Winter, 2013)
Lawrence-Sanders, Ashleigh (March 16, 2018).
"History, Memory, and the Power of Black Radio". Black Perspectives. African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS). Retrieved February 2, 2023.
MacDonald, J. Fred (1991) [1979]. "Stride Toward Freedom – Blacks in Radio Programing". Don't Touch That Dial. Radio Programing in American Life (1920–1960). Chicago: Nelson-Hall. pp. 327–370.
ISBN978-0882295282.
OCLC29810460.
Savage, Barbara Dianne (1999). "Chapter 6: New World A'Coming and Destination Freedom". Broadcasting Freedom: Radio, War, and the Politics of Race 1938–1948. Chapel Hill & London: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 246–270.
ISBN978-0807848043.
OCLC40135343.
Chicago Renaissance, 1932–1950 : a flowering of Afro-American culture images and documents from the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection (eBook ed.). Chicago: Chicago Public Library. 2000.
OCLC44761204.