On January 1, 1953, Shirley Robinson and Ernest Brown Jr. made history as the first African American couple to get married on television.
The wedding aired across the country on the popular show “Bride and Groom,” breaking barriers for representation of Black love and relationships.
Bronx Nurse And New Jersey Airman Tie The Knot
Robinson, a nurse from the Bronx in New York, and Brown Jr., an airman from Freehold, New Jersey, met and fell in love despite coming from very different backgrounds. Their groundbreaking televised nuptials brought together family and friends to NBC’s studio in New York, where the ceremony was broadcast from coast to coast.
Jet Magazine captured the smiling couple as they cut their wedding cake following the ceremony. While interracial relationships still faced major discrimination in the 1950s, Robinson and Brown Jr. presented a vision of optimism and change for the future.
Pioneers Paved The Way For Positive Representation
As the first Black couple on “Bride and Groom,” Robinson and Brown Jr. opened the door for more diverse depictions of love and marriage in mainstream media. In doing so, they exemplified courage during a time of intense prejudice against integrated relationships.
The beaming newlyweds also received a bundle of household gifts and a paid honeymoon, provided by the show’s sponsors. This enabled them to kick off their lives together on more solid financial footing during a period when many Black families struggled economically.
Decades later, Robinson and Brown Jr.’s broadcast nuptials have gone down in the history books as a pioneering moment for visibility and empowerment. Their love story left an indelible mark on television and American culture itself.
