In a downtown building two blocks from the King Center, Preston Mobley Sr. was a witness to civil rights history.
Beginning in 1957, Mobley was the program manager and an on-air personality at WERD, the nation’s first African-American owned radio station.
The station was in the Prince Hall Masonic Temple building on Auburn Avenue, and one floor below it was the headquarters of the newly formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
The SCLC’s founding director, Dr. Martin Luther King, relied on the station to carry his words to the community and nation.
“One way Dr. King would let them know he had an announcement was to knock on the ceiling with a broom handle,” said Mobley’s son, Preston Mobley Jr.
He said his father talked about “how approachable and friendly Dr. King was.”
Preston Mobley Sr., 88, a respected and influential broadcaster for more than 50 years, died Jan. 28. A Celebration of Life service was held Feb. 7.
Mobley had a smooth baritone voice made for radio.
He was a teenager when he broke into the business, working at radio stations in Florid and South Carolina, youngest daughter Lolita Martin said.
After a stint in the U.S. Army, he attended Clark College in Atlanta on a full scholarship and received his bachelor’s degree in English. While still at Clark in 1955, Mobley started working at WERD.
Within two years, he became the station’s program director and one of its on-air personalities. Known as “The Man with the Big Voice,” Mobley hosted a Sunday show called “Memories of You.”
“Being the first black radio station, many black musicians and sports figures came by all the time for interviews,” his son said.
These included Hank Aaron, Floyd Patterson and James Brown.
The elder Mobley left WERD in 1967, a year before the station was sold. He worked briefly at television’s Channel 36 in 1967 and 1968 as a news anchor and then joined WGUN-1010 am radio. He retired from WGUN in the late 1990s, his son said.
In retirement, he continued to receive requests for his oratory at special events, his daughter said.
“Faithful listeners remember the smooth baritone voice as he signed-on: ‘This is Preston Mobley,’ ” she said.
When he wasn’t working, Mobley loved cooking and building things, Preston Mobley Jr. said.
He added a family room and a huge basement bar to the family home, his son said.
Mobley is survived by his wife, Florence Lola Mobley; his four children, Darlene Anita, Preston Jr., Verlene Renita and Lolita Prestina; eight grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.
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