The founding of radio station KEUN in Eunice occurred as Cajun and zydeco music were gaining prominence in the mid to late twentieth century. However, both genres struggled to get airtime anywhere because Cajun music was long considered a “novelty” and zydeco was seen as “too black” for French stations and “too French” for black stations (1). When KEUN began airing in 1952, “two daily French newscasts” were aired between Monday and Saturday (2). Gradually, the station added more shows between 1955-1957 that played “French recordings” like Fais do-do, The Church Point Jamboree and Bon Ton Roule hosted by Houston LeJeune (3). By 1958, according to Elizabeth Mae Roberts, KEUN had dedicated five hours weekly to playing French music (4). The station, then, had a considerable audience willing to listen to French music and programs. In 1962, KEUN began “weekly remote” broadcasts on Saturdays in Mamou, which were hosted by Revon Reed and aired live Cajun music being played at Fred’s Lounge (5). These performances attracted large crowds who spent their Saturday mornings dancing to Cajun music, carrying on the dancehall tradition associated with the music. As a result, the station was credited as beginning a “Cajun renaissance” which, according to Barry Jean Ancelet, helped Cajuns in “validating their culture” (6). These were some of the many live recordings that KEUN conducted to give airtime to local musicians. KEUN maintained its connection to Cajun music, as seen in the KEUN Cajun Music Day fundraiser which occurred from 1987 to 1989, and the station developing a show for zydeco music by 1992 (7). As of 2005, KVPI in Ville Platte continued the weekly broadcasts that KEUN had started from Fred’s Lounge (8). Today, Cajun music can still be heard on KEUN over 105.5 FM, making almost 70 years of playing the genre.

Perhaps what is most associated with Acadiana is the Cajun culture, which includes unique music, food, and traditions. The music is especially crucial because it provides the sound for a rich culture and people which a radio station, like KEUN, allows to be heard.

1. Making Waves: Louisiana’s Radio Story, directed by Tika Laudun (Louisiana Public Broadcasting, 2005), 33:33; 34:48-34:55, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keEkhOJR1FE, accessed April 18, 2022. 2. Elizabeth Mae Roberts, “French Radio Broadcasting in Louisiana, 1935-1958,” (master’s thesis, Louisiana State University, 1959), 61. 3. Roberts, “French Radio Broadcasting,” 61-62. Assumedly, “French recordings” means Cajun music. 4. Roberts, “French Radio Broadcasting,” 83. 5. Making Waves, 37:10-37:21. 6. Making Waves, 37:05-37:15; 37:47-37:55.

7. The Basile Weekly, May 21, 1992, newspapers.com. 8. Making Waves, 37:41-37:44.

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On October 9, 1960, Franklin’s Hanson Memorial Tigers played against New Iberia’s Catholic Panthers in a high school football game. The Franklin area was convinced that the Tigers would win despite the expected difficulty Catholic High posed. Indeed, the game was close—the Tigers beat the Panthers in a 19-16 win under the watchful eyes of a record 4,000 fans (1). Yet, the question remains: what fanfare played into this intensity between two rival Acadiana high schools? The answer can be found in New Iberia’s local radio station KANE. KANE was founded in 1946 and named after the great amount of sugarcane that grew in the area. One of the station’s hallmarks that continues today is its coverage of high school sports, including football, basketball, and baseball (2). This legacy can be seen in the events surrounding the 1960 Hanson-Catholic football game. On October 1, Hanson High vowed in the St. Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune that they were going to give the Panthers “an old-fashioned licking” when they would play each other on Sunday (3). Three days before the game, on October 6, members of the Hanson Booster Club stormed KANE and held station manager, Don Bonin, at gunpoint with muskets. The raiders proceeded to air pro-Hanson High messages and “a number of challenges” towards the Catholic Panthers (4). The pre-game attack continued when, on the day of the game, Hanson staged a motorcade through New Iberia. Tiger fans waved flags and signs to show their support and rile up the Panthers on their own turf. Hanson’s antics culminated during the actual game with players like halfback Ronnie Hebert, who scored the two touchdowns for the Tigers and secured a victory for the team and gave the Panthers their first loss of the season (5). This episode in KANE’s history, other than showing the ridiculous and potentially dangerous lengths that some schools may go to in showing support for their team, is a reminder of one of the ways people listen to sports: through the radio. Whether providing play-by-plays or rallying support for a team, both locally and nationally, media like the radio amplifies the connection that sports provide to a community.

1. "Ronnie Hebert's 95-yard jaunt gives Hanson Tigers 19-16 win," The St. Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune, October 11, 1960, newspapers.com. 2. Jeff Boggs, interview by author, KANE, April 8, 2022. 3. The St. Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune, October 1, 1960, newspapers.com. 4. The St. Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune, October 8, 1960, newspapers.com.

5. "Ronnie Hebert's 95-yard jaunt gives Hanson Tigers 19-16 win," The St. Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune, October 11, 1960, newspapers.com.

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When we think of radio stations, we think of the sound rather than focusing on the people behind the sound. The radio station call sign, KSIG, will sound more familiar than the names B. Hillman Bailey, Jr. and Clovis Bailey, two brothers who worked at and helped found KSIG in Crowley. The Baileys were born about nine years apart in Rayne, Louisiana (1). Hillman’s degree in Journalism from Louisiana State University and Clovis’ degree in Radio Communications from Chenier College in Texas helped the brothers start the Bailey Radio Company in Rayne, which operated from 1934 to 1941.

In 1937, Clovis temporarily worked at WJBO in Baton Rouge as an engineer and became chief engineer of KVOL in 1940, before returning to Rayne to operate his own radio repair shop after the brothers’ company closed in 1942. That same year, Clovis was drafted during World War II to serve in the U.S. Army Signal Corps while Hillman remained in the South, becoming chief engineer for KVOL, WSKB in McComb, Mississippi, and KPLC in Lake Charles. After the war, plans for KSIG were well underway in 1946 with Hillman as general manager of the station and Clovis as chief engineer. Before the station first aired on April 11, 1947 from the second floor of the Crowley Daily Signal building (the station’s namesake), its poly-cylindrical studio was heralded as “unique and modern” (2).

The station received a warm welcome in Crowley and the greater Acadiana area as a 1948 newspaper article claimed that the existence of KSIG “bound Acadia communities closer together” (3). The success of the Bailey brothers with KSIG influenced them in opening another radio station in 1950 in Jennings, KJEF which, like KSIG, still exists today (4). This is also one example of the entrepreneurial spirit of Hillman who was very active in business endeavors and local politics (5). Hillman was the station manager of KSIG until 1955 when the station was sold and management was briefly under George Thompson and, later, Lou Basso. Clovis left KSIG by 1953 to work at KJEF as its station manager, where he remained as late as 1987. Eventually, Hillman died in 1997 and was followed by Clovis fourteen years later in 2011 (6).

The story of the Bailey brothers at KSIG is a reminder of the interesting lives and experiences of those who may not necessarily be in the spotlight, but contribute much to where they work. Much like a radio, it is not only the sound that counts, but all the parts within it that make it possible for us to hear it. 

1. Hillman was born in 1908 and Clovis in 1917. 2. "Bailey Will Manage KSIG," The Crowley Post-Signal, March 12, 1947, newspapers.com.

3. "Rice Mill Strike Top News Story Of Acadia Parish For Year 1947," The Crowley Post-Signal, January 3, 1948, newspapers.com. 4. Elizabeth Mae Roberts, “French Radio Broadcasting in Louisiana, 1935-1958,” (master’s thesis, Louisiana State University, 1959), 42. 5. Hillman became a part of the Natchitoches Parish Chamber of Commerce in 1961. 6. Clovis Bailey Obituary, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dailyworld/name/clovis-bailey-obituary?id=22133810.

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KROF in Abbeville differed from nearby Acadiana radio stations for its unique programming geared towards agriculture and farming: the main occupation of many of its listeners. Indeed, the importance of agriculture to the formation of the station is suggested by the station’s call sign KROF, the last three letters standing for “rice, oil, fur,” which Abbeville “is the official or unofficial capital” for (1). In 1947, the station was in the Bank of Abbeville before moving to a newly constructed building in 1948 where it went on air July 9. On March 19, 1948, the Vermilion Post advertised that KROF would broadcast “farm programs” as part of its radio schedule (2). These programs were Good Morning Farmer Friends, which aired daily except on Sundays, and The Farm Forum, which aired Monday through Friday.

Notably, The Farm Forum on Wednesdays broadcasted the Institutional On-Farm Training Program which was a part of the Louisiana Institutional Farm Training Program that began in 1946. The training program was started by state officials for Louisiana’s World War II veterans returning from the war who owned farms in the state. The goal of the program was to “train veterans on their own farms, to return qualified veterans to the land through the benefits of specialized training and not to direct new people into Agriculture” (3). The Vermilion Parish division of the program, headed by Elton J. Prejean, broadcasted over KROF to listeners, including non-veterans, for farm training and information. A reported example of the success of the training program was John Dore of Erath, who credited the program for the success of his dairy barn and his farming capabilities (4). The farm training program ended with the other benefits of the G.I. Bill of Rights in 1956, but other local efforts followed later to promote farm training.

Though KROF may be considered unconventional regarding what most people associate with the radio, the station and its programs were all but unconventional for its community of listeners. The farming programs of KROF, especially, reflect the station’s connection to the land of rural Acadiana which, for the people of that area, was their home and way of life.

1. “KROF Is Name For Abbeville Radio Station,” Daily Advertiser, Aug. 18, 1947, newspapers.com.

2. “Station KROF Building Nears Completion,” Vermilion Post, Mar. 19, 1948, newspapers.com.

3. “Explains Plan For Self Proprietorship Training In Farming,” Abbeville Meridional, Jul. 20, 1946, newspapers.com.

4. “Vets Success Illustrated,” Abbeville Meridional, Jan. 7, 1950, newspapers.com.

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In 1935, the Evangeline Broadcasting Company was issued a license from the FCC for the creation of a radio station in Lafayette under the call sign KVOL (Voice of Lafayette). In late 1935, the station officially began broadcasting from the Evangeline Hotel on 300 Jefferson Street. The years during World War II, when KVOL was located at the Evangeline Hotel, were a crucial time for the young station. KVOL’s coverage of the war began when Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. One month later, a “series of citizenship talks” began by Southwestern Louisiana Institute faculty; promoting American values and an anti-fascist stance (1). Some of the topics for the talks were “Capitalism and Americanism,” “The Fascist System,” “Spiritual Side of Education for the Common Defense,” and “The Democratic Thought" (2). After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, KVOL broadcasted President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chat on December 9, which announced the United States’ entrance into World War II. From that point on, KVOL aired a variety of programs that reflected Lafayette’s wartime efforts. KVOL broadcasted “Red Cross Roll Call Drive” programs beginning in November 1939. Throughout the war, the station aired war bond drives and a program for United China Relief. In 1942, KVOL assisted in “notifying persons to turn out lights” and remained in contact with an observation plane during a test blackout across Lafayette Parish (3). After the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1943, KVOL had battle veteran Captain Reid Taylor speak to promote the war bond salesmen group the Lafayette Parish Commandos. After the war, KVOL returned to normal operations, continuing to air its standard music and news hours. KVOL during World War II was one of many radio stations to support the national war effort in the local communities they serviced. From educational talks to war bond advertising, KVOL mobilized its airwaves to support its country in a time of global crisis. Footnotes:

1. “Dr. Ashburn to Speak Tonight in Legion Talks,” Daily Advertiser, Oct. 16, 1939, Newspapers.com. 2. “Dr. Ashburn,” Daily Advertiser, Oct. 16, 1939; “KVOL” Call Number: O 05 C, University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, accessed February 15, 2022.

3. “Blackout Over Parish Declared Big Success by Defense Heads,” Daily Advertiser, May 12, 1942, Newspapers.com.

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In 1940, the Fine Arts building of the Southwestern Louisiana Institute (S.L.I.), Burke Hall, had an “ill-equipped radio facility” maintained by various speech departments (1). During this time, KVOL acted almost as a radio station for S.L.I. and broadcasted campus related activities (2). In 1959, S.L.I. President Joel L. Fletcher formed a student committee to establish an official campus radio station. The following year, S.L.I. was renamed the University of Southwestern Louisiana (U.S.L.) and a student election voted for a campus radio station. In 1963, the station finally went on air as KRVS (Radio Voice of Southwestern). KRVS’ earlier programs included opera, jazz, progressive rock, and broadcasts of U.S.L. sports events. Starting in 1973, CODOFIL (Council for the Development of French in Louisiana) provided funding for KRVS in exchange for the station to produce French speaking radio programs (3). The influence of the relationship between CODOFIL and KRVS can be seen in many of KRVS’ current shows including, Bonjour Louisiane, Zydeco Est Pas Sale, and Encore. In the early 2000s, Burke-Hawthorne Hall (formerly Burke Hall) was expanded, relocating KRVS from the front of the building to the addition where it is located today. KRVS is an unsung hero that has played an important part in the history of U.L., Lafayette, and national college radio. KRVS’ mission in providing quality radio programs for Acadiana as a non-profit, non-commercial radio station has more than stood the test of time. The station today is a part of a legacy whose airwaves, permeated with Cajun and Zydeco music to up and coming indie musicians, now reach listeners locally and globally. Footnotes:

1. Roy D. Murphy, “KRVS-FM,” November 10, 1971, Call Number: C 05 D, box 1, file 3, University Archives and Acadiana Manuscripts Collection, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, accessed February 15, 2022. 2. See also tour location “KVOL: Voice of Lafayette.” 3. Megan Constantin, interview by author, KRVS, February 16, 2022.

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