Way before Dianne Carroll and Nat King Cole, This African American was the first to have a tv show

Cafe Society
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I am referring to Hazel Scott, who had her own show on the DuMont Television Network back in 1950, and she was a lifetime activist for African-American causes also. She was a hell of a classical and jazz pianist- Bing Videos
and: Bing Videos
Before the Red Scare took her show off the air it aired three times a week, which was quite the accomplishment. On this Juneteenth, I thought highlighting this incredible woman would be most appropriate.

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Cool, thanks for this.

DuMont TV was innovative in many ways — not just the racial diversity of its programming (Asian American as well), but in things like the first shows with multiple commercial sponsors, and the first simultaneous broadcasts in the East and the Midwest:

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I have her record. I think it’s called ‘Relaxed Piano Moods.’ On Charles Mingus’ Debut label, IIRC. It’s pretty good too. I don’t know if she ever made any others.

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She did a bit more than that. Here is her discography from her Wiki entry: Hazel Scott - Wikipedia

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Thanks!

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Thanks for posting this.

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It nudges out the Amos ‘n’ Andy TV show which started in 1951. While the show itself should be forgotten the actors who appeared in it should not.

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I read an interesting book published in 2021 which discusses the TV careers of Hazel Scott and three other women in detail: When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today, by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. I recommend it.

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Ethel Waters also had a TV series in 1950-1953 called Beulah in which she played the title role as a maid.

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Just as I was reading the OP, listening to the breakfast programme on the BBC 's classical music station, they had a segment on Winifred Atwell who had a similar success over here at about the same time: though, despite her classical training and performance of the classical repertoire, she was best known for playing honky-tonk style.