Harold Arlin: America’s First Radio Voice

In this installment of ‘Profiles in History,’ we meet a young electrical engineer who incidentally pioneers a new industry through the advent of radio.

Harold Arlin when he was announcing for KDKA, from Radio Age magazine. Public Domain

When Harold Arlin (1895–1986) graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in engineering, he anticipated having a career in that specific field. After receiving his diploma, he began his career for one of the nation’s largest corporations, Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. Almost by happenstance, Arlin’s engineering career took a detour into the new communication medium called radio. Thanks to time, chance, and a soothing voice, Arlin became America’s first broadcaster.

Born in La Harpe, Illinois, Arlin’s parents, Byron and Emma, soon moved the family to Carthage, Missouri, where Arlin grew up and graduated from high school. The same year the United States entered World War I, Arlin graduated from college at the University of Kansas, and, by 1920, he had moved to Pittsburgh and was working for Westinghouse as an electrical engineer and a plant foreman.

America’s First Station

Frank Conrad, one of the assistant chief engineers at the Westinghouse Pittsburgh location, had been making hyperlocal radio broadcasts. He had been broadcasting music and sports score updates to locals. The company hoped to capitalize on Conrad’s efforts and its own investment in the technology.