Ernest C. Martin Radio Program Collection

Collection — Container: 1

Identifier: BCA 0144 SAA 144

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The programs in this collection, entitled "Highway to Heaven," date mostly from 1950 and were recorded for a Frankfort, Kentucky radio station. An additional program was recorded in 1968 for WYGO in Corbin, Kentucky.

Listen To Songs by Ernest Martin

Dates

created: 1950-1968

Conditions Governing Access

Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College. Some recordings are available online.

Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions on use of this material other than federal copyright regulations.

Extent

1.00 ms_boxes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Ernest Martin was a talented musician and singer, originally from Clay City, Powell County, Kentucky. In the 1930s, Martin had some success in country music on such radio stations as WNOX in Knoxville, Tennessee. However, at age twenty-two, in about 1936, Martin began a career as an independent Baptist evangelist which lasted well into the 1980s. Martin traveled thousands of miles conducting church revivals and recorded radio programs of preaching and singing. These programs were broadcast on radio stations throughout central and eastern Kentucky including the cities of Corbin, Frankfort, Harrodsburg, Hazard, Mt. Sterling, and Stanton. With his sons Ernest and Vernon, Martin also made several commercial recordings in various formats including 78 rpm, 45 rpm, LP, eight-track, and cassette tapes.

Arrangement Note

The collection was arranged by Harry Rice, Sound Archivist. The finding aid was created in August 2015 by Harry Rice and Lori Myers-Steele, Collections Archivist. The finding aid was updated in February 2016 to reflect the inclusion of reference/listening CD copies of select recordings.