WDBO History
1924-It began as a physics class project. In May  E.F.  Wineberg, a Rollins College math, physics and engineering professor, launched  a 50-watt radio station in a small wooden building on the Winter Park campus. The first night's programming - less than an hour - included talks by college officials, a violin solo and a performance by the men's glee club, according to the Rollins newspaper that week. It was the first radio station in Orange County and only the third in  Florida. WDBO operated at 1250 on the dial with 50 watts of power for thirty hours a week. There are some conflicting stories surrounding the call letters. Some research says the call letters were issued in alphabetical sequence as was the policy of the time.  There was WDBN Bangor, Maine, and WDBP, in Superior, Wisconsin. That would make the next set of call letters WDBO. Other research shows a request for the call letters WDBO to stand for "Way Down By Orlando." If the first story is true it sure was a great coincidence for Rollins College. The original studios were alongside the tennis courts on the campus of Rollins College During the initial broadcast, announcer Dean Sprague said "...anybody who can hear this..." would receive a box of oranges from the Gentile Brothers Packing House, if they would send a postcard to verify the signal was being heard. Cards came from Orlando, Apopka and Sanford. On that first broadcast day some of the programming included the Rollins Men's Glee Club singing, "Rollins Goes Rolling Along." And "Taps" was played on a bugle at sign-off. On-air programming started at 8:45pm and signed off 1 hour 5 minutes later. Because school was about to close for the summer, the station shut down  after just a few days until that October. In the fall of 1924, programming  resumed with frequent concerts and the broadcasting of college lectures. The station's only employee then was engineer and announcer Harold P. Danforth, who was paid $250 a year. Danforth eventually would rise to  president and general manager of the station.
  
1925-A ship in the Pacific picks up WDBO's signal, making headlines all over the state of Florida. Meanwhile, WDBO is permitted to increase power to 100 watts.

1926-Rollins College decided the $600 budget to run WDBO was too much and gave the station to Col. George C. Johnston. Johnston was a radiologist from Pennsylvania who headed an investment bank called The Morris Plan, Co. Johnston named the corporation that took ownership of WDBO, The Orlando Broadcasting Company.
According to author Eve Bacon in her book "Orlando - A Centennial History"...cooperating in the maintenance of  the station were (the cities of) St. Cloud, Sanford, Winter Park, Sanlando, the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, Chase & Company, and Rollins College". The first  remote broadcast over WDBO originated from the Angebilt Hotel               

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Wings Over Jordan

       
   In the 1930s and 1940 the Accapella sound of Cleveland's famed black choir captivated the nation. The popular Sunday morning radio program was broadcast by Columbia Broadcasting System from WDBO in  1943. Hoping to spread Christianity through Negro spirituals, the Rev. Glenn T. Settle launched the choir in 1935 from the sanctuary of Cleveland's Gethsemane Baptist Church. The choir drew the praise of mixed-race audiences with traditional spirituals and original works. For nearly a decade, America listened to the Wings Over Jordan choir, the first black singing group with a national radio audience. CBS began airing the "Negro Hour" in 1938 from the Cleveland studios of WGAR in Cleveland. The weekly program was later renamed "Wings Over Jordan." Besides presenting music, it featured sermons and black artists and scholars who offered ideas not heard on national radio.