The HistoryMakers video oral history with Donald "Duck" Porter.

Chicago, Illinois : The HistoryMakers, [2016]

1 online resource (4 video files (2 hr., 2 min., 30 sec.)) : sound, color.

Access is available to the Yale community.

Videographer, Matthew Hickey.

Access restricted by licensing agreement.

Singer Donald "Duck" Porter was born in Chicago on November 22, 1936. The son of a teacher and a steel worker, Porter's family moved to nearby Gary, Indiana, in 1951. When he finished high school in 1956, he joined The Spaniels, widely regarded as one of the greatest doo-wop groups of the 1950s, with their hit, Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight. For the next three years, The Spaniels toured and recorded. Disbanding in 1959, Porter worked as a crane operator for Acme Steel Company. Reuniting in 1973, Porter remained with the Spaniels until 1988. Porter became the head of security for the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston. He traveled the country talking about the music of the 1950s. The Spaniels closed out a PBS broadcast celebrating doo-wop with their hit, Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight, earning more in donations for the network than any previous fundraiser. A resident of in Boston, Porter raised seven children.

Images / Online / Video & Film

English

February 04, 2021

Videographer, Matthew Hickey.

Adele Hodge, interviewer.