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In the mid-1970\u2019s, a teacher was struggling to find a way to reach into homes and educate families with Head Start children. In an uncanny twist of fate, the teacher found herself on television, producing quality children\u2019s programing and making a difference in the lives of countless Alabamans for 35 years. We thank you Rosie Seaman for your dedication and are so happy to induct you into the Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was teaching Head Start teachers at Spring Hill College,\u201d says Seaman. \u201cI was working for Father Albert Foley who headed up the school and I went to his office one day and I said, \u2018You know Father, we need to get to the mothers. You\u2019re teaching teachers but nothing is going to get anywhere if we can\u2019t get into their homes and teach them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Foley had a brilliant idea to solve Seaman\u2019s problem. \u201cHe told me I was made for television, and I said, \u2018I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re taking about,\u201d laughs Seaman. Foley![\"\"](\"http:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Rosie-4-188x300.jpg\")
picked up the phone and called Kenneth Gibbons who started WKRG-TV. Indeed, Gibbons was interested. In fact, he wanted to meet with Seaman that very afternoon. \u201cI\u2019d no more thought about television and here I had to come up with some ideas and present them in just a few hours,\u201d Seaman says.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I go in there and I told him I wanted something that looked like a home. I wanted to have a den, and a kitchen and a little area where we could bring animals in and teach the children about them,\u201d says Seaman. \u201cAnd he said, \u2018I can do that for you,\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRosie\u2019s Place\u201d went on the air in 1974 and just two years later the show earned The Alabama Arts and Humanities Award for best TV series in the state. Seaman produced and hosted the show for ten years and then she went on to produce even more children\u2019s programming for WKRG including Small Fry News <\/em>and Youth Magazine<\/em>. Somewhere she found the time to write books for children, too. <\/p>\n Seaman\u2019s efforts to show diversity in Small Fry News<\/em> caught the attention of a national magazine. \u201cYes, the ‘Ladies Home Journal’ called me and told me that I was the only television program that had African American children on it,\u201d says Seaman. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize that was the case, but I thought those kids had the right to be invited onto the show, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRosie was very committed to making sure that children\u2019s issues were sort of front and center in our community,\u201d says Virginia Guy, executive director of the Drug and Education Council. \u201cShe did that through the power of television and she understood the market and the audience. She brought her viewers the different services available for children and families in our community.\u201d Seaman served in more of a behind-the-scenes capacity later in her career. She produced Page 5<\/em>, We Are Mobile<\/em> and Mark your Calendar<\/em>, plus she was the producer for WKRG\u2019s morning and midday news programs.<\/p>\n John Nodar, WKRG\u2019s meteorologist, worked with Seaman on many of the shows. He says she really had an impact within the local political arena. \u201cPeople trust her \u2013 especially political heavy-hitters have trusted her over the years,\u201d says Nodar. \u201cI\u2019m talking mayors and candidates for governor and congressmen and senators. They trust Rosie. And some of these folks actually come to her for advice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur relationship now has a completely different nature,\u201d says Guy, \u201cbut I still go to her when I\u2019m needing some trusted advice. She has a good heart; a gentle spirit and she just lives out her faith daily.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think everything that happened to me was meant to happen to me,\u201d says Seaman. \u201cFor instance, the three men that I worked for were the most powerful men at the time. The way things just happened with me being on TV, and writing 13 books, and how we achieved things for children. I was really meant to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the mid-1970\u2019s, a teacher was struggling to find a way to reach into homes and educate families with Head Start children. In an uncanny twist of fate, the teacher found herself on television, producing quality children\u2019s programing and making a difference in the lives of countless Alabamans for 35 years. We thank you Rosie … Continue reading Rosie Seaman<\/span> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Rosie-3-300x234.jpg\")
\u201cNow Small Fry News<\/em> was just precious,\u201d says Seaman. \u201cThe kids were the anchors and reporters, and we went throughout the Gulf Coast doing the news. It was very hard to do because I wanted to include all the children.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Rosie-2-300x237.jpg\")
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