Wings Over Jordan, an African-American a cappella spiritual choir, was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1935 by Baptist minister Glenn Thomas Settle. The group originated at the Gethsemane Baptist Church and initially consisted of working-class members with little formal musical training. Their radio breakthrough happened after they were ruled ineligible for an amateur contest on WJAY due to being considered professional artists; WGAR's program director, Worth Kramer, heard them and offered them a weekly slot. This led to the creation of The Negro Hour, which was soon picked up by CBS and renamed Wings Over Jordan. It was the first radio program produced and hosted by African-Americans to be nationally broadcast over a network. The program aired on CBS from 1938 to 1947, and later on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1949. During this period, Wings Over Jordan released several singles including "The Old Ark’s a’Moverin’" (1945) and "I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray" (1945).
