WHER (defunct)

RCA 77 microphone with WHER mic flag.

WHER (1430 kHz AM) was the first "All-Girl" radio station when it went on the air in October 1955. Staffed almost exclusively by women (including broadcasting pioneer Vida Jane Butler), the station spawned a series of imitators, but later evolved into a mixed-gender staff rechristened WWEE.

The radio station was the brainchild of Sam Phillips, who used a portion of the $35,000 he made from the sale of Elvis Presley's recording contract to RCA Records to finance the station. A portion of the balance of the funding came from Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson, who also provided the station's first home, in a part of the third Holiday Inn ever built.

As of 2008, the 1430 kHz frequency is occupied by WOWW, a country music station.

External links

• Kitchen Sisters documentary on WHER
• "NPR Revisits WHER - The World's First All-Girl Radio Station"
• "Golden Girls", On the Media, October 28, 2005. '
• "Talk on Lost and Found Sound's", Peter Guralnick