50 years of Public Radio 90

One of Marquette’s radio stations is celebrating 50 years on the air.

WNMU, 90.1 FM, first came on the air on April 15th, 1963.

The station wasn’t known as Public Radio 90 back then because National Public Radio didn’t exist yet.

Neither did NMU itself as it’s currently structured; it was still Northern Michigan College at that time.

Station manager Evelyn Massaro says WNMU began in a closet in Lee Hall as a student-run campus organization, similar to what Radio X is now.

Listeners have been extremely generous over the years in keeping the station on the air.

Many people in the area may remember that they saved it from closure in 2003, when NMU endured heavy budget cuts, and Massaro says they had done the same thing in 1983 as well.

The station is preparing a video presentation about its five decades of history.

On Thursday, April 11th, Massaro will show the presentation to the marquette beautification and restoration committee.