ANDREW CARTER AND EDWARD PATE, JR.

Born in 1919 in Savannah, Georgia, Andrew “Skip” Carter built his first radio in high school and later worked as a radio engineer. After serving in the Army during the war, Carter studied at the RCA School of Electronics and New York University. Edward Pate was born on April 13, 1915 in Kansas City and received an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Carter’s goal was to own and operate his own station, but his efforts were thwarted by racial attitudes of the 1940s. A letter chronicling his difficulties appeared in Broadcast magazine and caught the eye of former Kansas governor Alf Landon, who owned four radio stations. Landon hired Carter to run KCLO/Leavenworth and subsequently helped Carter get an FCC license. Pate offered his financial support and business acumen and in 1950, the two men launched KPRS/Kansas City, the first African-American owned and operated radio station west of the Mississippi.

Carter’s grandson Michael became president of the KPRS Broadcasting Corporation in 1987, making KPRS the oldest radio station continually owned and operated by African-Americans.

Andrew Carter died in January 1989.

Andrew Carter and Edward Pate, Jr. were inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.

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