Willis Clark Conover, Jr. was a jazz producer and broadcaster on the Voice of America for over forty years. He produced jazz concerts at the White House, the Newport Jazz Festival, and for movies and television. By arranging concerts where people of all races were welcome, he is credited with desegregating Washington, D.C., nightclubs. Conover is credited with keeping interest in jazz alive in the countries of Eastern Europe through his nightly broadcasts during the Cold War.
Willis Conover broadcasting with Voice of America in 1969
Conover's first arrival in Poland (1959)
Voice of America is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest of the U.S.-funded international broadcasters. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content in 49 languages, which it distributes to affiliate stations around the world. Its targeted and primary audience is non-American. As of November 2022, its reporting reached 326 million adults per week across all platforms.
Voice of America headquarters
Willis Conover broadcasting with Voice of America in 1969
Martin Luther King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech
Buzz Aldrin on the moon, in a photograph taken by Neil Armstrong, who can be seen in the visor reflection along with earth.