WASHINGTON — Trailblazing broadcast media owner Cathy Hughes was honored Wednesday night as the Nebraska Society's Distinguished Nebraskan of the Year, the first African-American woman to receive the award.
Hughes noted that the president of the Washington-based society is also an African-American woman.
"You all have made a lot of progress in Nebraska, a lot of progress," she told the 50 or so people who turned out for the reception.
Born and raised in Omaha, Hughes is the founder and chairwoman of Radio One Inc., the largest black-owned and -operated broadcast company in the nation. Hughes is the first African-American woman to be chairwoman of a publicly held corporation.
U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns joined U.S. Reps. Lee Terry, Adrian Smith and Jeff Fortenberry, all Nebraska Republicans, at the event. It was held at the local hangout Busboys and Poets, in its Cullen Room, named after the Harlem Renaissance poet and playwright Countee Cullen.
Hughes' father was the first African-American to graduate with an accounting degree from Creighton University.
Although she moved to Washington 40 years ago, she said, she remains grateful for her Omaha roots, which she credited for a strong sense of community and hard work ethic. She returns to Omaha several times a year and is still an active member of St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church.
Hughes said her first job was selling classified advertising for Mildred Brown at the Omaha Star. She recalled how a group of athletes, including Bob Gibson, Bob Boozer and Gale Sayers, pooled their resources to buy a radio station with a black format.
It was eye-opening to think someone could do that in a city where Conway Twitty was the most popular recording artist, she said.
"Then you know that if you go to a city where there are black folks and do black radio, then you will be able to attract a listenership," she said.
She told the crowd how she knew Terry's father, Lee Terry Sr.
As head of the KETV-Channel 7 newsroom at the time, the elder Terry hired away her co-worker, Harold Dow, and made him the first black reporter on Omaha television.
Hughes moved to Washington in the 1970s and began a radio career as general sales manager at WHUR-FM. She bought WOL-AM in 1980 and now is head of a media empire.
She told The World-Herald that it was special to be recognized by her fellow Cornhuskers.
"When folks from Nebraska say you've done well enough for us to recognize you, it's the day you live for," she said.
Contact the writer:
202-630-4823, joe.morton@owh.com
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