Carol Highsmith – America’s Photographer

Our Town with host Andy Ockershausen - Homegrown History

Carol Highsmith on the importance of her mission ~ "I am now using the highest digital camera made on Earth. . .That's what I come to the map with. The real important aspect of this is that it is not for now I'm doing this. It's for 1000 years from now, or 5000 years from now." Carol Highsmith, America's Photographer in studio interview A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town, and it's a special treat for me to talk to somebody, we go way back. This young lady worked in the WMAL sales department in the 1980s. She even won the WMAL Employee of the Year award the first year we gave that award. And she was an incredible addition to the WMAL staff. Since she left there, she's been around doing extraordinary things with her life with her camera and with her husband, another WMAL legend, Ted Lanphair, who was a news director. Together, Ted and Carol Highsmith have roamed the country. She's the official photographer of the United States Library of Congress. She is single-handedly documenting America one state at a time. [Check out her website at carolhighsmithamerica.com] The inspiration for her life work started in Our Town at the Willard Hotel. Our Town keeps popping up. Welcome to Our Town, Carol Highsmith. Carol Highsmith: Thank you Andy. You know, just coming in today, how fun it was thinking about the good times we had here. And how wonderful it was when you led the troops, and we all just loved you to death. There was nothing like it. A Ockershausen: It wasn't. And Ken Hunter, our technical director, hears it all the time. There was nothing like the WMAL spirit. Sitting right there was Doc Walker, and he was talking about it, that he got something out of being part of WMAL. Even though he was doing a show, he knew what we were doing. You knew what we were doing, because you were part of it. Carol Highsmith on Working in Sales at WMAL Carol Highsmith: It was so much fun! I mean, we just had a ball! A Ockershausen: Absolutely. It was entertainment. Carol Highsmith: And I was in sales, so here's the deal. You didn't have to sell anything. You would just go out and pick up the order. My first day, first day, right? I had come from another number one station, KYW in Philadelphia. A Ockershausen: Powerhouse. Carol Highsmith: Hello. So I arrived at WMAL and went out to visit my clients, first day. Somebody handed me a $30,000 order. I thought, "Oh dear! This is going to be so much fun." A Ockershausen: You knew you hit the jackpot didn't you? Carol Highsmith: Oh, yes, I thought, it wasn't sales. It was PR. You just go out and smile and they say, "Okay, how much money do you want?" A Ockershausen: Well, you know, everybody that sits in that chair that was part of us always talks about the people, that the people were so important in the sales department. Like Bob Bowen, Pete Wysocki, you know, Frank Ford. They were all pros. Carol Highsmith: They were. A Ockershausen: I mean, you were not with a bunch of beginners. They were pros. Carol Highsmith: That is very true, but guess who our leader was. The best salesman in the world, Andy Ockershausen. A Ockershausen: That's what I was named by Bill Regardie. I'm not sure. Carol Highsmith: Seriously, how could we fail? We had at our helm someone who understood sales. And that wasn't me. A Ockershausen: And your husband Ted understood it. Carol Highsmith: Yeah he did. A Ockershausen: He knew WMAL, brought in a lot of good people. And then, you know, everything changes. But we waited a long time for our change to WMAL. And now we're so happy, I'm sure you've heard that the Redskins have finally decided to have somebody listen to them. And they put the signal back to where it belongs, where it's always belonged. In Our Town on WMAL. But Carol, your career has been incredible. I mean, I did not know that you were a Minnesota girl until I read about your travels from Minnesota to North Carolina. That was America. You saw it.