“Jive That Anybody Can Dig :” Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst and the desegregation of radio in Central Texas, 1948-1963
Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst was the first African American popular music disc jockey in Texas. His radio program The Rosewood Ramble was broadcast on Austin station KVET-1300 AM from 1948 until 1963. KVET’s white owners, who included future Texas politicians John Connally and J. J. “Jake” Pickle, were...
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ndltd-UTEXAS-oai-repositories.lib.utexas.edu-2152-271912015-09-20T17:28:06Z“Jive That Anybody Can Dig :” Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst and the desegregation of radio in Central Texas, 1948-1963Weiss, Peter OkieLavadaDurstHepcatAustinTexasRadioAfrican AmericanBlackKvetJohn ConnallyJ.J.PickleJake PickleJiveChitlin circuitCivil rightsHistoryMusicBluesJazzRhythm and bluesSoulRock n' rollDisc jockeyDeejayGentrificationUrbanBusinessWorld War IILavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst was the first African American popular music disc jockey in Texas. His radio program The Rosewood Ramble was broadcast on Austin station KVET-1300 AM from 1948 until 1963. KVET’s white owners, who included future Texas politicians John Connally and J. J. “Jake” Pickle, were not outspoken advocates for the rights of African Americans under Jim Crow, but they hired Durst in a concentrated effort to expand KVET’s African American listening audience. The Rosewood Ramble became a cultural, economic, and psychological resource for black radio listeners in segregated central Texas while also becoming the region’s most popular radio show among white listeners. This paper uses a mixture of oral history and archival sources to argue that Durst’s fifteen-year career at KVET was only the best-known part of a lifetime spent as an information broker to Austin’s embattled black community.text2014-11-07T17:54:06Z2012-082014-11-07August 20122014-11-07T17:54:06ZThesisapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/27191 |
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Lavada Durst Hepcat Austin Texas Radio African American Black Kvet John Connally J.J.Pickle Jake Pickle Jive Chitlin circuit Civil rights History Music Blues Jazz Rhythm and blues Soul Rock n' roll Disc jockey Deejay Gentrification Urban Business World War II |
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Lavada Durst Hepcat Austin Texas Radio African American Black Kvet John Connally J.J.Pickle Jake Pickle Jive Chitlin circuit Civil rights History Music Blues Jazz Rhythm and blues Soul Rock n' roll Disc jockey Deejay Gentrification Urban Business World War II Weiss, Peter Okie “Jive That Anybody Can Dig :” Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst and the desegregation of radio in Central Texas, 1948-1963 |
description |
Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst was the first African American popular music disc jockey in Texas. His radio program The Rosewood Ramble was broadcast on Austin station KVET-1300 AM from 1948 until 1963. KVET’s white owners, who included future Texas politicians John Connally and J. J. “Jake” Pickle, were not outspoken advocates for the rights of African Americans under Jim Crow, but they hired Durst in a concentrated effort to expand KVET’s African American listening audience. The Rosewood Ramble became a cultural, economic, and psychological resource for black radio listeners in segregated central Texas while also becoming the region’s most popular radio show among white listeners. This paper uses a mixture of oral history and archival sources to argue that Durst’s fifteen-year career at KVET was only the best-known part of a lifetime spent as an information broker to Austin’s embattled black community. === text |
author |
Weiss, Peter Okie |
author_facet |
Weiss, Peter Okie |
author_sort |
Weiss, Peter Okie |
title |
“Jive That Anybody Can Dig :” Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst and the desegregation of radio in Central Texas, 1948-1963 |
title_short |
“Jive That Anybody Can Dig :” Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst and the desegregation of radio in Central Texas, 1948-1963 |
title_full |
“Jive That Anybody Can Dig :” Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst and the desegregation of radio in Central Texas, 1948-1963 |
title_fullStr |
“Jive That Anybody Can Dig :” Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst and the desegregation of radio in Central Texas, 1948-1963 |
title_full_unstemmed |
“Jive That Anybody Can Dig :” Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst and the desegregation of radio in Central Texas, 1948-1963 |
title_sort |
“jive that anybody can dig :” lavada “dr. hepcat” durst and the desegregation of radio in central texas, 1948-1963 |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2152/27191 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT weisspeterokie jivethatanybodycandiglavadadrhepcatdurstandthedesegregationofradioincentraltexas19481963 |
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1716824138492936192 |