Ragan A. Henry amassed a bevy of radio stations on the East Coast, starting in the 1970s when it wasn’t easy for black people to own any at all. But with smarts, wits and a dream, he was one of the few.
Henry was the first African American to own a network-affiliated TV station and helped paved the way for media moguls who are household names today. But very few people know or remember his name, for his rise as a broadcast entrepreneur came before the internet and Facebook and Twitter.
At some point when he was building his radio empire, Henry was also collecting art. I learned of him as a collector a few weeks ago when I got an email from auctioneer/owner Kent Jackson of Uniques and Antiques auction house in Delaware County, PA. The auction house had been consigned to sell 500 lots of artwork from Henry’s estate.
When I visited, the auction house was still in the process of displaying the artwork. Paintings, photographs and prints lined the walls of one room and hung on partitions. Others were propped against the walls and on wheeled carts. Henry was both a prolific and eclectic collector.
Many of the works were created by local African American artists, including Ellen Powell Tiberino and Tom McKinney, whose prints are usually very affordable. There were also original paintings by other local artists, including Moe Brooker, – one of my favorites – and Andrew Turner. Nationally known artists Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence were represented with several prints.
Others include internationally known artists such as Claude Pissaro and Emile Gruppe, and Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo.
“He crossed all genres,” said auctioneer/owner Tim Aikens. “He had western, California artists and nice Modernist (artists), too.”
I saw some artwork featuring 19th-century American scenes and figures, and even a few thoroughbred horses. The auction will be held online only on Friday, Nov. 16, though LiveAuctioneers and Invaluable. The auction is open for bids now.
Henry was probably most notably known among broadcast and media inner circles, and local attorneys. There is no entry for him in Wikipedia, where you can find just about anybody or anything. He’s only mentioned in reference to several radio stations that he owned or was associated with.
Socially, he was described as a very private man. A friend, Claude Lewis, who led Henry’s National Leader newspaper in the 1980s, said in an NPR interview after Henry’s death in 2008 that he “was so private an individual that it was hard to get to know him. He was always pleasant, very intelligent, very capable. He enjoyed collecting oriental rugs. He loved to fish. But he didn’t like to mix with crowds. He didn’t like to spend a lot of time with a lot of people. He had a few close friends and he let it go with that. He enjoyed his family.”
Ragan Henry was born in Sadieville, KY, in 1934 to sharecropper parents making $10 a week working somebody else’s land. The family moved to Ohio during World War II to find jobs in war-related industries. He got a scholarship to Harvard University, where he earned his undergraduate and law degrees. He ended up in Philadelphia at the law firm of Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen, where he became a partner.
He bought his first radio station in 1974, WAOK-AM in Atlanta. He was a determined man who used his savings and salary for the deal, and sought help from banks, venture capital firms, including UNC Ventures Inc. of Boston, and others.
Henry bought his first TV station in 1979, WHEC-TV in Rochester, NY, becoming the first African-American to own a station affiliated with a network, CBS. There were other black-owned stations around at the time, including WGPR, Channel 62 in Detroit, but they were local and un-affiliated.
By 1990, he owned 60 radio stations across the country, and had stakes in several media companies. Henry was not the only African American buying radio stations. In 1970, Percy Sutton founded his Inner City Broadcasting Corp. in New York. Long before then, Jesse B. Blayton Sr. became the first African American to own a radio station, WERD-AM in Atlanta in 1949.
Henry was inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1991. In 1981, he was named “Outstanding Broadcaster of the Year” by the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, where in 1980 he had been president. In 1993, he was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame.
The love of art and collecting art were apparently among his other passions. In 1999, he was named a vice chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees, according to a museum press release from that time. He had been a trustee since 1992 and was a member of the museum’s development committee. He and his wife Regina had started Philadelphia Black Network to shine a light on African American art and history, according to the press release.
The couple also were art benefactors. They provided funding for LaSalle University Art Museum’s acquisition of Henry Ossawa Tanner’s “Mary (La Sainte-Marie),” 1898, an oil on canvas. It was loaned to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for its 2012 exhibit “Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit.”
They contributed funding to help the Philadelphia Museum of Art to purchase Barbara Chase-Riboud’s “Malcolm X #3,” 1969. The sculpture is from the artist’s series “Malcolm X Steles.” It was part of a museum exhibit “Barbara Chase-Riboud: The Malcolm X Steles” in 2014.
Here is a sampling of artwork from Henry’s collection that will be auctioned:
I met Mr. Henry in early 90’s. He was visiting a station (WCOS) in Columbia, SC that he had just purchased. I had some concerns about some of the changes as well as some of the managers he had hired. I was not pleased with his management staff, all white males and how arrogant they were. Meeting was scheduled and Mr. Regan Herny and I talked for about 30 minutes. In short, he said to me that I remind him of his son, and that I need to be more aggressive. I later found out of his many accomplishments. My only concerns was that out of all the many stations that he owned at that time (30 +) only 3 black general managers and 1 black program director. One of the managers was his wife and son. The station (WCOS country format 97.5) was sold to Mr. Henry by previous owner Mr. Jake Bogan, a jewish american and great owner that I enjoyed working with.
Ragan Henry was my sister’s uncle. I knew a great deal about him but only met him once when I was very young. He was Awesome!!! I wish I could afford a piece of art from his collection but I’m sure they’d be all gone anyway. RIP Ragan sir you did great things in your lifetime that will always remain!!! Your unofficial niece Pebbles.
It was an awesome collection and a fine auction. I managed to get one small item print.
Excellent post. It is always nice to have some well-researched facts about the origin of a collection we are selling. See you at the auction… or maybe the preview since it is an “online only auction”