One of the longest-running programs in Chicago TV history, Jubilee Showcase aired for 21 years—January 10, 1963, through January 8, 1984—on WLS-TV, Chicago's ABC station.
Presenting the widest variety of gospel and inspirational music, this historic, pioneering program reached a vast audience every Sunday morning. It featured America's greatest gospel artists, including many of Chicago's finest singers, musicians and choral groups.
The majority of performers, some now nationally and internationally acclaimed, made their TV debuts on Jubilee Showcase. The program received high praise and recognition, including "The Emmy" from the Television Academy. Through the generosity of host/producer Sid Ordower, approximately a hundred Jubilee Showcase programs were made available to the Chicago Public Library for transfer to videocassette from the original master tapes. This collection does not include a finding aid. All videocassettes are listed in the Chicago Public Library online catalog.
Performers featured on the program include:
- Argo Singers Harold Bailey Singers
- Martha Bass
- Alex Bradford Singers
- Beautiful Zion
- Missionary Baptist Church Inspirational Choir
- Jerry Bratton
- Lorenza Brown
- Willie Brown
- Earl Calloway
- Chicago Pentecostal Choir
- Christ Tabernacle
- Missionary Baptist Church Choirs
- Otis Clay
- Clefs of Faith
- Beatrice Alford Clency
- Charles Clency
- Ozella Clifton
- Lucy Smith Collier
- Corinthian Temple Church of God in Christ Radio Choir
- Katie Davis Singers
- Archie Dennis, Jr.
- Jessy Dixon Singers
- Willie Dixon
- Duncanaires
- Emanon Choral Ensemble
- Rev. Clay Evans
- J.J. Farley
- Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church Choir
- First Church of Deliverance Choir
- First Church of Love & Faith Choirs
- Clarence Fountain
- Fountain of Life Baptist Church Choir
- Charles Geiger
- Cassietta George
- Ralph H. Good
- Gospel Chimes
- Gospel Songbirds
- Greater Bethesda Baptist
- Church Sanctuary Choir
- Irma Gwynn
- Elsa Harris
- R.H. Harris
- James Herndon Highway QC’s
- Ethel Holloway
- Josephine Howard
- Hulah Gene Hurley
- Hutchinson Sunbeams
- Inspirational Singers
- Institutional Radio Choir of Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Rev. Jesse L. Jackson
- Rev. Myrtle Jackson
- Spencer Jackson Family
- Josephine James
- Vernard Johnson
- Jimmy Jones
- Rev. George Jordan
- Rev. Stanley Keeble
- Connie Kinnison
- Aldrea Lenox
- Liberty Baptist Church Sanctuary Choir
- Lighthouse Baptist Church Choir
- Arthur Logan Singers
- Loving Sisters
- George Mays
- Norsalus McKissick
- McLin Ensemble
- Meditation Singers
- Bill Moss & Celestials
- Mt. Hebron Baptist Church Youth Choir
- Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church Choirs
- New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church Choirs
- New Friendship Baptist Church Inspirational Choir
- Norfleet Brothers
- Dorothy Norwood Singers
- Loretta Oliver
- Omega Baptist Church Choir
- O’Neal Twins
- Operation Breadbasket Choir
- Operation Push Choir
- Philharmonic Youth Choir
- Pilgrim Jubilees
- Joe Leonard Robinson
- Salem Travelers
- Soul Stirrers
- Mavis Staples
- Pop Staples
- Staple Singers
- Doris Sykes
- Thompson Community Singers
- Albertina Walker
- Girod Walker
- Louise Overall Weaver
- Wooten Choral Ensemble
- Rev. Marvin J. Yancy
The Jubilee Showcase project was made possible by a grant from the Illinois State Library, a Division of the Office of the Secretary of State using federal LSCA Title I funds, July 1, 1990-June 30, 1991.
