WMPR

For more than a decade, Mississippi had just one public radio station: WNJC-FM in Senatobia, Mississippi. Seeking to change this, the J.C. Maxwell Broadcasting Group—named for James Clerk Maxwell, discoverer of electromagnetic radiation—was formed in early 1981 to pursue the construction of a new noncommercial educational station in Jackson. Maxwell proposed a new full-service outlet with a focus on news and information, as well as an affiliation with NPR.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91342669/community-board-applies-to-fcc-to-set-up/|date=January 29, 1981|page=2B|first=Douglas|last=Demmons|title=Community board applies to FCC to set up public radio station here|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the construction permit on January 28, 1982. By that time, Maxwell had already lined up grant monies from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the Communications Improvement Trust, which held money from the interim operator of WLBT, Communications Improvement, Inc.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91343820/group-gets-grant-for-national-public-rad/|date=August 18, 1981|page=4B|first=Lynn|last=Watkins|title=Group gets grant for National Public Radio|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91344016/public-radio-group-gets-198000-us-gr/|date=December 2, 1981|page=6B|first=Brian|last=Williams|title=Public radio group gets $198,000 U.S. grant|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}} Studios were constructed on the campus of Tougaloo College,{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88664525/first-public-radio-station-in-jackson/|title=First public radio station in Jackson due in early 1983|date=September 8, 1982|work=The Clarion-Ledger|first=Bill|last=Nichols|page=1D|access-date=November 18, 2021|archive-date=November 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118073952/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88664525/first-public-radio-station-in-jackson/|url-status=live}} while the station set a musical format focusing on jazz and blues.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91344180/mississippis-public-radio-choices-grow/|date=January 6, 1983|page=1F|first=Bill|last=Nichols|title=Mississippi's public radio choices grow|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}

WMPR began broadcasting in October 1983,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89139518/settling-in-black-owned-station-readies/|date=October 5, 1983|page=3B|first=Alvylyn|last=Jones|title=Settling in: Black-owned station readies for airwaves|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}} but it failed to attract the hoped-for support from listeners. The first general manager resigned after just six months, and by 1986, the station warned that it might not have sufficient funds to remain a member of NPR.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91344319/wmpr-fm-in-desperate-need-of-help-with/|date=July 17, 1986|page=NE5|title=WMPR-FM in 'desperate need of help' with funds|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}} A steadying hand would soon come to the station in the form of James Charles Evers, former mayor of Fayette and disc jockey in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and the brother of Medgar Evers,{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |date=July 22, 2020 |title=Charles Evers, Businessman and Civil Rights Leader, Dies at 97 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/us/charles-evers-dead.html |access-date=January 1, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}} who became the general manager of WMPR by January 1990{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91567327/charles-evers-civil-rights-work-attract/|date=January 28, 1990|page=3I|first=Leesha|last=Cooper|title=Charles Evers' civil rights work attracted black and white critics|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=January 1, 2022}} and served in the post for more than 30 years. Prior to becoming a station employee, he had debated segregationist Richard Barrett on its air in 1988.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91345013/evers-segregationist-battle-it-out-on-r/|date=April 15, 1988|page=5|title=Evers, segregationist battle it out on radio|newspaper=The Greenwood Commonwealth|location=Greenwood, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}} Under Evers's management, per a historical marker erected on the Mississippi Blues Trail in 2009, WMPR became a "primary outlet" for blues in the area; Evers also hosted the weekly Let's Talk talk show.{{Cite web |title=Charles Evers & The Blues Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=162116 |access-date=December 29, 2021 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}

The station was the subject of an attack in 2017 in which unknown vandals went to Evers's home and sprayed "KKK" on a station van.{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Jerry |date=February 13, 2017 |title=Charles Evers' radio van spray-painted 'KKK' |language=en-US |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2017/02/13/charles-evers-radio-station-van-spray-painted-kkk/97849512/ |access-date=December 29, 2021}} Evers died in 2020;{{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Jimmie E. |date=July 22, 2020 |title=Charles Evers, brother of Medgar Evers, dies at the age of 97 |language=en-US |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/22/charles-evers-brother-civil-rights-icon-medgar-evers-dies-97/5487387002/ |access-date=December 29, 2021}} after his death, the street on which WMPR's studios are located, Pecan Park Circle, was renamed in his honor.{{Cite news |last=Gallant |first=Jacob |date=August 7, 2020 |title=Street renamed in honor of late Charles Evers |language=en |work=WLBT |url=https://www.wlbt.com/2020/08/07/street-renamed-honor-late-charles-evers/ |access-date=December 29, 2021}}{{Cite news |last=Farish |first=Anna |date=August 7, 2020 |title=Life of Charles Evers celebrated with block party in Jackson |language=en-US |work=WJTV |url=https://www.wjtv.com/news/life-of-charles-evers-celebrated-with-block-party-in-jackson/ |access-date=December 31, 2021}} Majority ownership remained in the Evers family with his wife Wanda, who absorbed some of Charles's stake.{{cite web|url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101810167&formid=315&fac_num=29552|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|title=BTCED-20190910AFM Transfer of Control|date=September 10, 2019|author=J.C. Maxwell Broadcasting Group, Inc.|access-date=December 28, 2021}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.wmpr901fm.com wmpr901fm.com]
• {{FM station data|29552|WMPR}}

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{{Jackson MS Radio}}

MPR

Category:1983 establishments in Mississippi

Category:Radio stations established in 1983

Category:Variety radio stations in the United States