Catherine Liggins Hughes (born Catherine Elizabeth Woods; April 22, 1947) is an American entrepreneur, radio and television personality and business executive. She has been listed as the second-richest Black woman in the United States. She founded the media company Radio One (now known as

Urban One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American-o ...

), and when the company went public in 1999, she became the first African-American woman to head a publicly traded corporation. In the 1970s, Hughes created the urban radio format called "The

Quiet Storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...

" on

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

's radio station

WHUR WHUR-FM (96.3 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary radio station that is licensed to Washington D.C., and serving the Metro D.C. area. It is owned and operated by Howard University, making it one of the few commercial radio stations in the Unit ...

with disc jockey and fellow Howard student Melvin Lindsey.

Early life

Cathy Hughes was born to

Helen Jones Woods Helen Elizabeth Jones Woods (October 9 or November 14, 1923 – July 25, 2020) was an American jazz and swing trombone player renowned for her performances with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. She was inducted into the Omaha Black Musi ...

, a trombonist with the

International Sweethearts of Rhythm The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was the first integrated all-women's band in the United States. During the 1940s the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day. They played swing and jazz on a national circuit that incl ...

Piney Woods School The Piney Woods Country Life School (or The Piney Woods School) is a co-educational independent historically African-American boarding school for grades 9–12 in Piney Woods, Mississippi, Piney Woods, unincorporated area, unincorporated Rankin ...

, a private boarding school in Mississippi, and William Alfred Woods, who was the first African-American to earn an accounting degree from

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

. Her grandfather Laurence C. Jones was a successful

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

educator and lynching survivor. The family lived in the

Logan Fontenelle Housing Projects The Logan Fontenelle Housing Project was a historic public housing site located from 20th to 24th Streets, and from Paul to Seward Streets in the historic Near North Side neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was built in 1938 by the P ...

while Hughes' father attended college. Hughes grew up with a household of siblings. She found her love for music at a very young age, while repeatedly each night lying in bed listening to

Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

and

The Platters The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The ac ...

. In her early life, her parents did not have much money. She struggled to eat. In fact, she lied about her age to get her first job at the age of 14. Hughes attended Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

before her first pregnancy. She also went to the

University of Nebraska Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

and

taking Business Administration courses, her father's alma mater, but was not able to complete and receive a degree, which led to her getting a job as a sales manager at

's radio station,

WHUR-FM WHUR-FM (96.3 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary radio station that is licensed to Washington D.C., and serving the Metro D.C. area. It is owned and operated by Howard University, making it one of the few commercial radio stations in the Unite ...

Career

Before radio, in the mid-1960s, Hughes worked for an African American newspaper called the ''

Omaha Star ''The'' ''Omaha Star'' is a newspaper founded in 1938 in North Omaha, Nebraska, by Mildred Brown and her husband S. Edward Gilbert. Housed in the historic Omaha Star building in the Near North Side neighborhood, today the ''Omaha Star'' is the on ...

''. Hughes began her career in 1969 at KOWH in Omaha, but left for

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

after she was offered a job as an administrative assistant with Tony Brown at the School of Communications at

. In 1973, she became General Sales Manager of the university's radio station,

, increasing station revenue from $250,000 to $3 million in her first year. In 1975, Hughes became the first woman vice president and general manager of a station in the nation's capital and created the format known as the "

," which revolutionized urban radio and was aired on over 480 stations nationwide. During her marriage with

Dewey Hughes Dewey Hughes (born 1932) is an African American former radio personality and was Petey Greene's manager. Early life Dewey Hughes was born in South Carolina in 1932. Career Hughes was introduced to Petey Greene by his older brother Milo at Lorton R ...

in 1979, they set out to purchase a radio station. Successfully finding a lender after being denied thirty-two times by banks, in 1980 Hughes and then-husband Dewey founded Radio One, subsequently buying AM radio station WOL 1450 in

Washington, D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. After the previous employees had destroyed the facility, she faced financial difficulties and subsequently lost her home and moved with her young son to live at the station. Her fortunes began to change when she revamped the R&B station to a 24-hour

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format with the theme, "Information is Power." Hughes served as the station's Morning Show Host for 11 years. In 1982 the bank had threatened to cease payments to Hughes investment unless she agreed to airing music. She decided to keep her station airing a talk format in the morning and music throughout the day. WOL is still the most-listened-to talk radio station in the nation's capital. In 1987, Hughes bought radio station

WMMJ WMMJ (102.3 FM), known on air as "Majic 102.3 & 92.7," is a jammin' oldies-leaning urban adult contemporary radio station owned by Radio One in the Washington, D.C. market. It is co-owned with WKYS, WOL, WPRS-FM, WTEM and WYCB and has studio ...

with her company Radio One (now

). In 1995, Radio One bought radio station

WKYS WKYS (93.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. The station is owned by Urban One through licensee Urban One Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an Urban Contemporary radio format. It is co-owned with WMMJ, WOL, WPRS-FM, a ...

. Radio One went on to own 70 radio stations in nine major markets in the U.S. In 1999, Radio One became a publicly traded company, listed under the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

stock exchange. As of 2007, Hughes's son, Alfred Liggins, III, serves as CEO and president of Radio One, and Hughes as chairperson. Hughes is also a minority owner of BET industries. In January 2004, Radio One launched TV One, a national cable and satellite television network which bills itself as the "lifestyle and entertainment network for African-American adults." Hughes interviews prominent personalities, usually in the entertainment industry, for the network's talk program ''TV One on One''. Both Cathy Hughes and her son, Alfred Liggins have been named Entrepreneur of the Year by the company

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

. She is a notable member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

sorority. In 2015, a local business organization unofficially named the corner of 4th Street and H Street NE in Washington, D.C. "Cathy Hughes Corner". Hughes' life story is featured on the documentary series ''

Profiles of African-American Success ''Profiles of African-American Success'' is an American documentary web series produced by Frances Presley-Rice and filmmaker Bayer Mack for their production company Block Starz Music Television. The documentary series features short biographi ...

''. In 2016, Hughes was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. In 2020, she accepted a position on the Board of Trustees at Creighton University in Omaha.

Personal life

Hughes was married to Alfred Liggins Jr from 1965 to 1967. Together they had one child, Alfred Liggins III, born January 30, 1965, in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. She got pregnant when she was seventeen and her mom threw her out of her house. Hughes married

in 1979 and they divorced in 1987. They had no children together. Cathy said that debt was overwhelming for him. He was never an entrepreneur. She, on the other hand, was focused and knew she could pay back the 1 million dollars they were able to borrow from their "angel" lender. After her divorce and with looming debt, she ended up moving into the station with her son. When asked if it was hard or stressful to deal with, she said:

"No, number one I was in awe of Washington DC. I was in Georgetown. I haven't been able to get back there yet! During my struggling days, I had a prime corner. You would see the president having dinner at one of the restaurants."

Hughes is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. As of 2018, she attended St Benedict the Moor Catholic Church, a Black parish, when in Omaha. She resides in

Pasadena, Maryland Pasadena is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 24,287 at the 2010 census. The areas of Lake Shore, Riviera Beach and Pasadena are collectively referred to as Pasadena by residents ...

Awards

Cathy Hughes has titled many awards. Granted an honorary doctorate from Sojourner Douglass College in Baltimore in 1995. That accomplishment drove Hughes back to school 2 years later. In 1988, she was the first woman awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the twelfth annual ceremony. Hughes is also a member of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce's Business Hall of Fame. Jumping to the year 2000, she was awarded the First Annual Black History Hall of Fame Award. Following that she was presented the National Action Network's "Keepers of the Dream" award, which is an award that spotlights role models who contribute to and honor Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy. Radio One is number nine on BET 100, with a net worth of $450.8 million for 2015.

References

External links