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The Women Who Became 'The Founding Mothers Of NPR'

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Left: Nina Totenberg (from left), Linda Wertheimer and Cokie Roberts photographed around 1979. Right: Totenberg, Wertheimer and Roberts pictured more recently at NPR's headquarters.
NPR
Left: Nina Totenberg (from left), Linda Wertheimer and Cokie Roberts photographed around 1979. Right: Totenberg, Wertheimer and Roberts pictured more recently at NPR's headquarters.

NPR is celebrating its fiftieth birthday this year and much of the organization's early success can be attributed to four groundbreaking women.

Susan, Linda, Nina and Cokie are the names of the four women credited as "the founding mothers of NPR." The history of these award-winning journalists dates back to the inception of National Public Radio. "It is really a kismet story of timing and of all these terrific personalities who were there at the beginning of public radio," says author Lisa Napoli.

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Trevor Grandin is a contributing producer for KCUR Studios.
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