ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Now, a bow...
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
And a curtsy.
SHAPIRO: ...To someone we consider NPR royalty. We'll do it with our feature...
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: First Mention.
CORNISH: First Mention is our chance to pinpoint the moment NPR listeners heard a name, a voice or a subject on air for the very first time.
SHAPIRO: April 5, 1971 - 45 years ago today, founding mother Susan Stamberg started work at National Public Radio.
CORNISH: She worked behind the scenes. Her job was to prepare other people's reports.
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ROBERT CONLEY, BYLINE: From National Public Radio in Washington, I'm Robert Conley with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
CORNISH: Susan Stamberg's unmistakable voice didn't appear on our air until June 30, 1971.
SHAPIRO: It was during an interview with Philip Hirschkop, a lawyer. He was involved in defending thousands of people who were arrested earlier that spring during an antiwar protest. Here's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED's first host, Robert Conley, introducing Susan's piece.
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CONLEY: Susan Stamberg went over to talk to Philip Hirschkop, and her first question to him was about how many of those 13,400 youngsters arrested were his clients.
PHILIP HIRSCHKOP: Probably all of them. A number...
CORNISH: OK, so where's Susan? Oh, she's there, listening intently.
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HIRSCHKOP: Were charged with unlawful entry.
SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE: The D.C. Corporation Counsel, C. Francis Murphy, dropped something like 2,500 cases, and so far there've been 10 - haven't there - people who've been convicted.
HIRSCHKOP: Yes.
STAMBERG: What's the present situation then?
SHAPIRO: That's her, Susan Stamberg, 31 years old, making her on-air NPR debut.
CORNISH: But her really big moment at NPR happened almost a year later when she became host of this program on March 1, 1972.
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STAMBERG: From National Public Radio in Washington, I'm Susan Stamberg with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
SHAPIRO: With that, Susan Stamberg made history as the first woman to anchor a national nightly news broadcast in the United States.
CORNISH: Here's to you, Ms. Stamberg, happy 45th anniversary at NPR.
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STAMBERG: Tonight on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED - supporters of George Wallace discuss the reasons for their support.
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STAMBERG: Also tonight, a conversation with an electronic music virtuoso. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
