National Radio Show Explores Homewood's Ancient Station And 'First Martyr To Radio'

HOMEWOOD, IL — Long ago, the public would be asked “to turn your radio dial” to a particular station for a program of interest. Now, when a national network airs a program, hundreds of stations will air it, and it may also be accessed in podcast form.

That’s how people interested in Homewood—and broadcast—history may hear a new episode of “Our American Stories,” a nationally syndicated daily two-hour program that airs on over 300 radio stations. It is distributed by iHeart Radio and appears on all podcast apps as Our American Stories, with new stories every weekday. Find it on Apple Podcasts here.

Jon Elfner, a Homewood-Flossmoor H.S. history teacher and a man of many interests, is a regular contributor to Our American Stories. Elfner recently conducted a couple of recording sessions with Bob Anderson of Homewood, who is well-versed in the ancient radio station WOK and its 19-year-old employee, Lester J. Wolf, a Homewood resident who died in broadcasting’s first work-related accident on July 10, 1926. In May, Anderson presented the story to a meeting of the Homewood Historical Society, which Anderson now serves as president. Wolf was Anderson’s great-uncle.

Elfner sparked potential national interest in the 99-year-old story, then turning Anderson’s recorded comments about the old station and Wolf into a dramatization for this episode.

"Working at one of Chicago’s early radio stations, Wolf helped shape the early days of commercial broadcasting, unaware when the radio first crackled to life in the 1920s, it transformed how Americans shared news, music, and hope," the 'Our American Stories' episode description reads.

"But behind those first transmissions were young innovators like Lester Wolf, who saw endless promise in a brand-new medium. Working at one of Chicago’s early radio stations, Wolf helped shape the early days of commercial broadcasting, unaware that his ambition would come at a devastating cost. His grandnephew Robert Anderson revisits a forgotten family story that mirrors the birth of modern communication in the United States.

Via another connection between the Homewood Historical Society and Homewood-Flossmoor High School,retired teacher Megan Tipon, a member of the Homewood Historical Society board of directors, created a new display about the WOK and First Martyr to Radio saga that is now a permanent exhibit at the Dorband-Howe House Museum, 183rd St. and Martin Ave., Homewood. Museum hours are Saturdays, 1 to 3 p.m.

This press release was submitted by the Homewood Historical Society.