Born October 25, 1891
Hamilton, Ontario

Died October 27, 1979
Detroit, Michigan

Catholic priest, radio personality

Charles Coughlin. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

"Coughlin invented a new kind of preaching, one that depended on modern technology: the microphone and transmitter. He ushered in a revolution in American mass media…televangelism and political talk radio, stem back to him."

Donald Warren in Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin, the Father of Hate Radio

Known as the "radio priest" during the 1930s, Father Charles Edward Coughlin broadcast to the nation from an office in his Catholic church. His first broadcasts were Sunday sermons primarily aimed at children. Then came more politically charged programs, in which he spoke on behalf of citizens disillusioned by the troubles of the Great Depression, the most serious economic crisis in U.S. history. By the 1930s the American radio audience was large. Despite economic hardships, most citizens...