Auburn Rotarian Ralph Foster gave us a fascinating presentation on the early days of radio in Alabama. Foster discovered that his dad had the first radio in his hometown of Luverne in 1924 (probably one of the first in the state). In those days the radio was a massive piece of equipment whose power was generated by running wires into battery acid (before indoor electricity was the norm).

Radio stations began broadcasting across the U.S. in 1922 and a group of folks in Birmingham began investigating establishing a station. That effort initially failed, but in 1925 WAPI was launched from Auburn University’s Broun Hall. Most of the programming consisted of music, lectures, news and weather/crop reports. Foster again proves that some of the best programs come from our own members!