PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — From his early years as a Philadelphia school teacher to his esteemed career in Philadelphia radio and national TV journalism, the late trailblazer Ed Bradley was honored in Fairmount Park Thursday with a Pennsylvania historical marker.
“You can take the man out of Philadelphia, but you can’t take Philadelphia out of the man,” said Patricia Blanchet, Bradley’s wife and founder of the Ed Bradley Family Foundation.
“Wherever he went in the world, no matter how high the heights he scaled — whether it was the Khyber Pass or Saigon, Havana or Soweto — Ed always carried his beloved hometown in his heart, spreading Philadelphia’s ubiquitous message of brotherly love far and wide.”
Mayor Jim Kenney acknowledged Bradley’s many journalistic achievements, from spending 26 years as a correspondent on “60 Minutes” to being the first Black correspondent to cover the White House.
“Before all that, Bradley served a brief tenure as a Philadelphia school teacher before beginning his career in journalism,” said Kenney, “on the radio at Philadelphia’s WDAS, right down the road here on Edgely Avenue.”
Bradley died in November 2006 at the age of 65 from leukemia.
“He would have turned 80 this year,” Kenney continued, “and his incredible legacy looms large over our great city today.”
The West Powelton Steppers performed as dignitaries participated in the ceremonial planting of trees near Bradley’s marker, located at the southeast corner of Belmont and Edgely avenues.
“I think he would be genuinely surprised and delighted by the accolades bestowed upon him by this great state and city,” added Blanchet. “Isn’t it something that the most exceptional broadcast journalist of his time — an agent of change — this man had no idea of his iconic stature?”