Fred J. Hart was born in Tacoma, WA and educated at Oregon’s McMinnville College (now Linfield University). He moved to California in 1912, becoming involved in a variety of agricultural ventures. Hart helped establish several branches of the California Farm Bureau and became editor of the California Farm Bureau Federation magazine.
In 1926, Hart took over operation of KQW, the descendant of the station Charles Herrold had put on the air in 1909. The station remained under the ownership of San Jose’s First Baptist Church, to which Herrold had sold the station. Hart immediately launched a 90-minute evening program called Farm Bureau Evening Radio News, targeting farmers and their families far beyond the Santa Clara Valley.
Hart referred to KQW as “the people’s station”, while the station was routinely referred to in newspaper articles as “The Farm Bureau Station”. He developed a network of shortwave transmitters to relay agricultural market news and price information back to KQW and also built relationships with agriculture research institutions.
In 1930, Hart acquired the KQW license via his Pacific Agricultural Foundation. Four years later, the license was sold to Ralph Brunton and Charles McCarthy, but Hart continued to manage KQW for several more years.
Hart briefly had an interest in Oakland’s KROW and also went on to own radio stations in Hawaii.
Fred J. Hart died in 1988 at age 86.