173.235.187.4 at 17:31, 2 June 2025

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{{for|the airport serving Redang, Malaysia assigned the ICAO code WMPR|Redang Airport}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = WMPR
| logo =
| city = [[Jackson, Mississippi]], US
| branding =
| frequency = 90.1 [[MHz]]
| airdate = 1983
| format = [[Variety (US radio)|Variety]]
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| erp = 100,000 [[watt]]s
| haat = {{convert|137|m|ft|sp=us}}
| class = C1
| facility_id = 29552
| coordinates = {{coord|32|11|33.00|N| 90|5|28.00|W|region:US-MS_type:landmark}}
| callsign_meaning = Mississippi Public Radio (originally an NPR member station until 1986)
| owner = J.C. Maxwell Broadcasting Group, Inc.
| licensee =
| website = {{url|wmprfm.com}}
}}
'''WMPR''' (90.1 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a [[radio station]] broadcasting a [[Variety (radio)|variety]] format. WMPR is a community station which specializes in [[Gospel music|gospel]] and [[blues]] but also features other forms of music as well as several community-oriented talk shows. Licensed to [[Jackson, Mississippi]], United States, the station serves the Jackson area. The station is currently owned by J.C. Maxwell Broadcasting Group, Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=WMPR |title=WMPR Facility Record |work=United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division }}</ref>

Its studios are located in Jackson, west of downtown, and the transmitter site is in [[Florence, Mississippi]].

==History==
For more than a decade, Mississippi had just one public radio station: [[WMSB (FM)|WNJC-FM]] in [[Senatobia, Mississippi]]. Seeking to change this, the J.C. Maxwell Broadcasting Group—named for [[James Clerk Maxwell]], discoverer of electromagnetic radiation—was formed in early 1981 to pursue the construction of a new noncommercial educational station in Jackson. Maxwell proposed a new full-service outlet with a focus on news and information, as well as an affiliation with [[NPR]].<ref name="Clar810129">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91342669/community-board-applies-to-fcc-to-set-up/|date=January 29, 1981|page=2B|first=Douglas|last=Demmons|title=Community board applies to FCC to set up public radio station here|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref>

The [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) granted the construction permit on January 28, 1982. By that time, Maxwell had already lined up grant monies from the [[Corporation for Public Broadcasting]], the [[National Telecommunications and Information Administration]], and the Communications Improvement Trust, which held money from the interim operator of [[WLBT]], Communications Improvement, Inc.<ref name="Clar810818">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91343820/group-gets-grant-for-national-public-rad/|date=August 18, 1981|page=4B|first=Lynn|last=Watkins|title=Group gets grant for National Public Radio|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Clar811202">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91344016/public-radio-group-gets-198000-us-gr/|date=December 2, 1981|page=6B|first=Brian|last=Williams|title=Public radio group gets $198,000 U.S. grant|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref> Studios were constructed on the campus of [[Tougaloo College]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88664525/first-public-radio-station-in-jackson/|title=First public radio station in Jackson due in early 1983|date=September 8, 1982|work=The Clarion-Ledger|first=Bill|last=Nichols|page=1D|access-date=November 18, 2021|archive-date=November 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118073952/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88664525/first-public-radio-station-in-jackson/|url-status=live}}</ref> while the station set a musical format focusing on jazz and blues.<ref name="Clar830106">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91344180/mississippis-public-radio-choices-grow/|date=January 6, 1983|page=1F|first=Bill|last=Nichols|title=Mississippi's public radio choices grow|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref>

WMPR began broadcasting in October 1983,<ref name="Clar831005">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89139518/settling-in-black-owned-station-readies/|date=October 5, 1983|page=3B|first=Alvylyn|last=Jones|title=Settling in: Black-owned station readies for airwaves|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref> but it failed to attract the hoped-for support from listeners. The first general manager resigned after just six months, and by 1986, the station warned that it might not have sufficient funds to remain a member of NPR.<ref name="Clar860717">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91344319/wmpr-fm-in-desperate-need-of-help-with/|date=July 17, 1986|page=NE5|title=WMPR-FM in 'desperate need of help' with funds|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref> A steadying hand would soon come to the station in the form of [[James Charles Evers]], former mayor of [[Fayette, Mississippi|Fayette]] and disc jockey in [[Philadelphia, Mississippi]], and the brother of [[Medgar Evers]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |date=July 22, 2020 |title=Charles Evers, Businessman and Civil Rights Leader, Dies at 97 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/us/charles-evers-dead.html |access-date=January 1, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> who became the general manager of WMPR by January 1990<ref name="Clar900128">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91567327/charles-evers-civil-rights-work-attract/|date=January 28, 1990|page=3I|first=Leesha|last=Cooper|title=Charles Evers' civil rights work attracted black and white critics|newspaper=Clarion-Ledger|location=Jackson, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=January 1, 2022}}</ref> and served in the post for more than 30 years. Prior to becoming a station employee, he had debated segregationist [[Richard Barrett (lawyer)|Richard Barrett]] on its air in 1988.<ref name="Gree880415">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91345013/evers-segregationist-battle-it-out-on-r/|date=April 15, 1988|page=5|title=Evers, segregationist battle it out on radio|newspaper=The Greenwood Commonwealth|location=Greenwood, Mississippi|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref> Under Evers's management, per a historical marker erected on the [[Mississippi Blues Trail]] in 2009, WMPR became a "primary outlet" for blues in the area; Evers also hosted the weekly ''Let's Talk'' talk show.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles Evers & The Blues Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=162116 |access-date=December 29, 2021 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref>

The station was the subject of an attack in 2017 in which unknown vandals went to Evers's home and sprayed "KKK" on a station van.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Jerry |date=February 13, 2017 |title=Charles Evers' radio van spray-painted 'KKK' |language=en-US |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2017/02/13/charles-evers-radio-station-van-spray-painted-kkk/97849512/ |access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref> Evers died in 2020;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Jimmie E. |date=July 22, 2020 |title=Charles Evers, brother of Medgar Evers, dies at the age of 97 |language=en-US |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/22/charles-evers-brother-civil-rights-icon-medgar-evers-dies-97/5487387002/ |access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref> after his death, the street on which WMPR's studios are located, Pecan Park Circle, was renamed in his honor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gallant |first=Jacob |date=August 7, 2020 |title=Street renamed in honor of late Charles Evers |language=en |work=WLBT |url=https://www.wlbt.com/2020/08/07/street-renamed-honor-late-charles-evers/ |access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Farish |first=Anna |date=August 7, 2020 |title=Life of Charles Evers celebrated with block party in Jackson |language=en-US |work=WJTV |url=https://www.wjtv.com/news/life-of-charles-evers-celebrated-with-block-party-in-jackson/ |access-date=December 31, 2021}}</ref> Majority ownership remained in the Evers family with his wife Wanda, who absorbed some of Charles's stake.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101810167&formid=315&fac_num=29552|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|title=BTCED-20190910AFM Transfer of Control|date=September 10, 2019|author=J.C. Maxwell Broadcasting Group, Inc.|access-date=December 28, 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wmpr901fm.com wmpr901fm.com]
*{{FM station data|29552|WMPR}}

{{clear}}
{{Jackson MS Radio}}

[[Category:Radio stations in the Jackson metropolitan area, Mississippi|MPR]]
[[Category:1983 establishments in Mississippi]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1983]]
[[Category:Variety radio stations in the United States]]

WMPR - Revision history

173.235.187.4 at 17:31, 2 June 2025