Pictured is the family of John D. Lewis, News and Observer's 1960 Family of the Year.

J. D. Lewis was a broadcasting pioneer who broke racial barriers over a lengthy career at Capitol Broadcasting, the parent company of WRAL TV.

Upon the United States involvement in WWII, Lewis enlisted in the Marine Corps, becoming one of the first 200 Black Marines.

During WWII he picked up a great deal of knowledge surrounding radar and sound equipment and after the war set up a radio and television repair business in Raleigh.

In his spare time he would regularly announce baseball games at Chavis Park. Fred Fletcher, then general manager of WRAL-AM/FM frequented these baseball games and was impressed by Lewis.

Fletcher hired Lewis as a morning DJ--the first Black radio announcer in North Carolina.

In 1958, two years after WRAL obtained a television station license, Lewis was on air, hosting a new Saturday afternoon television show called "Teenage Frolics."

Which was a breakthrough for Black teenagers because of segregation, they were not allowed to go on the music and dance TV shows for White teenagers.

The show aired live from the WRAL studios and featured Black teenagers dancing to contemporary music of the day--a full 13 years before Don Cornelius' "Soul Train."

Teenage Frolics proved to be extremely popular and thrust Lewis into the national spotlight, earning him a lengthy and rewarding career.

Lewis retired from broadcasting in 1968 and became a project director for the US Labor Department, later returning to Capitol Broadcasting Company in 1974 as the company's first Human Resources Director.

When Lewis retired from CBC in 1997 he graciously declined his parting gift from the company. Instead, asking for it to be donated to the Garner Road YMCA, which he helped found just after WWII.

CBC's Fletcher Foundation provided $100,000 for the J. D. Lewis Multipurpose Center which opened in 2005.

Lewis was honored by numerous awards during his life for his community efforts and his work with young people. He was posthumously inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame in 2010.

One of Lewis' daughters, Yvonne Lewis Holley, is a member of the NC House of Representatives.

Source: NO.60.5.117
From the N&O negative collection, State Archives of North Carolina.

Source: https://history.capitolbroadcasting.com/people/