By Marjorie J. Hurst
Thirty-four years ago, when Carol Moore Cutting and her husband, Dr. Gerald B. (Bruce) Cutting, moved to the Springfield area from Alabama, the first thing Carol did was to turn on the radio in order to, in her words, “get in touch with the community.” Much to her surprise, there was not one radio station here with which she could identify. None played the type of music she was used to hearing. None broadcast any information of interest about her new community. Most likely, none employed any Black broadcasters; and there certainly were no radio stations owned by Blacks, not here, nor anywhere in New England.
Carol’s reaction was one of surprise. This was not what she was used to. As anyone who came to this area from the South or from large cities like New York can tell you, moving to Springfield in the 1960’s was somewhat of a cultural shock. One might have thought that Carol would have simply registered her shock that there was not a musically diverse and socially relevant radio station in this area, and then moved on with her life. But if you thought that, then you really don’t know Carol Moore Cutting.
An overnight success you think? Well, not exactly. A talented, committed woman of extraordinary vision and determination is more like it. In her own words, she came out of “the Booker T. Washington experience where you received the motivation and encouragement to be able to do what you have to do or want to do to move forward.” Her childhood experience was one of growing up in the segregated South, going to segregated schools and being in contact with great role models who demanded that you make the most out of yourself.
Her family had a strong and positive influence on her development. Theirs was a large, extended family that worked together to encourage and help each other to succeed. Her great-grandfather was Native American and Carol learned much about life from him. From her father, Bill Moore, Carol learned her work ethic as she watched him work hard every day to support their family. Her mother, Mattie Dawson Hall, served as Carol’s first teacher and, perhaps, her greatest role model. As a child, Carol walked great distances to a one-room school where her mother taught Carol and her sister, Laura.
Each afternoon, after teaching all day, Carol’s mother drove 144 miles to Montgomery, Alabama to attend college classes in order to get her degree, and then drove the same 144 miles back to their home in Loving, Alabama at a time in our history when making that kind of trip for a Black woman in the South was fraught with danger, to say the least. At an early age, Carol learned first-hand that you worked hard and did what you had to do in order to move to the next level.
It’s no wonder that this woman from such a humble background had the fortitude to move forward under adverse circumstances. And that’s exactly what she faced—adverse circumstances—when she began in the early 1970’s to research what it took to own a radio station. Carol was undaunted by the fact that there were absolutely no Black-owned radio stations in New England. In fact, at that time, there were only a few radio stations owned by Blacks in the entire United States.
Carol just quietly began to do what was necessary to make her dream a reality. She went to conferences and took advantage of every learning experience she could find. What she learned was that there were only two ways to own a radio station. You could buy an existing radio station, if there was one for sale. Or you could build a radio station, providing there was an existing frequency in the area. At that time, there were no existing frequencies so Carol began to try to find an existing radio station to buy. A couple of AM stations did become available in the early 1970’s but experts in the radio broadcast area advised her against purchasing them for a variety of reasons.
So Carol found that she had to learn patience, which she admits was difficult for her. However, she felt that if her dream of owning a radio station, not for herself, but in order to give a voice to the community was meant to be, it would happen. And she never gave up on her dream. She continued to learn the business, to prepare herself, and to work toward her goal. In the meantime, life went on. She had two children, Alysia and Darrel, and she became very active in the community as her children grew older. And the dream did not die.
In 1984, her patience paid off and a frequency became available. Carol applied to the Federal Communication Commission for a construction permit to build a radio station and her application was approved. And this should be the end of the story, right? Wrong. Others had applied for that frequency. And Carol, who had beat out all her competitors initially, spent the next eight years in one court after another because of one individual who wanted the station for himself. Her children began to look at going to Washington, D.C. as just another family trip as their Dad entertained them while their Mom testified in deposition after deposition and fought one appeal after another.
Finally, in 1992, there were no more courts to appeal to and Carol became the independent owner of WEIB 106.3 FM. Finally it was over. Well, no, not quite yet. There were still more issues to deal with on the local level that took another seven years to resolve. Then, in 1999, Carol, along with her son, Darrel, began testing the frequency to see how far it reached. They “looped” or played the same three songs over and over again. People began calling in and soon thereafter, WEIB 106.3 FM, a cutting edge blend of “cool jazz, smooth sounds and a touch of soul” was born. Almost 34 years later, Carol Moore Cutting has realized her dream. She is now providing “that diverse perspective and voice of the community” that were missing when she first moved here from Alabama in 1969 and turned the radio on. And people love it—ask anyone!!