Mary Dee
Mary Dee | |
---|---|
Born | Mary Elizabeth Goode April 8, 1912 Homestead, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | March 17, 1964 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | (aged 51)
Other names |
|
Education | Howard University |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1948–1964 |
Spouse |
Franklin C. Dudley (divorced) |
Children | 4 |
Mary Dudley (born Mary Elizabeth Goode; April 8, 1912 – March 17, 1964), known as Mary Dee, was an American
Dee is considered a pioneer in developing the radio format that combines coverage of community affairs with music and news. She was one of the first two black women admitted to the Association of American Women in Radio and Television, and was successful in campaigning for the organization to forgo meetings in segregated facilities. During her lifetime she received numerous awards for her civic work. In 2011 she was honored posthumously with the Thomas J. MacWilliams Lifetime Achievement Award from the Media Association of Pittsburgh.
Early life and education
Mary Elizabeth Goode was born on April 8, 1912, in Homestead, Pennsylvania, to Mary Elizabeth (née Hunter) and William H. Goode.[1][2] Both of her parents were the children of slaves and from Virginia. After their marriage in 1904, the couple migrated to Pittsburgh, where William worked for U.S. Steel.[3][4] Among their children were James, who operated the Goode Real Estate Company, one of the first real estate firms operated by a black man in Pittsburgh; William, who owned Goode Pharmacy, a 24-hour pharmacy;[2][4] Mal, first black network television correspondent, who worked for ABC News;[5][6] Ruth, who worked in her brother's drug store and later ran a day-care center in McKeesport; and Allan, who worked at the Wylie Avenue News Agency and was an Army veteran.[2][4]
Education was important to the family and five of the six children attended university.[2] Goode grew up in Homestead and graduated from Homestead High School, before attending Howard University for two years.[7][8] In the mid-1930s, she married Franklin C. Dudley, a steel worker, with whom she had four children; Yvonne, twins Sherwood and Sherlynn, and Franklin C. Jr.; but the couple later divorced.[1][9][10] In 1947, Dudley enrolled at the Si Mann School of Radio in Pittsburgh, graduating with honors.[8]
Career
In 1948, when WHOD was founded in Homestead, Dudley applied for a job, but was not hired. She approached the station manager, who told her he would hire her on a trial basis if she could secure a sponsor.[Notes 1][8] Able to get backing, Dudley went on the air as Mary Dee on August 1, 1948.[10] Her first broadcast was devoted to announcing a calendar of events for black women in the area.[11] Within days, her time slot was extended to a 15-minute segment called Movin' Around with Mary Dee and then to 30 minutes. The following spring, it was increased to an hour-long show.[10] By her first anniversary, the slot had extended to an hour and a half, to two hours on her second anniversary, and to four hours by her fourth year in the business.[8][10] Despite the modest reception range, at 250 watts during the day, Dee garnered a large following, receiving more than 150 fan letters per day.[12][13][14] Her fans crossed color lines, particularly with regard to her gospel music segment. She received mail from blacks as well as whites, and had both black and white sponsors.[8][2]
Dee pioneered a radio format that combined coverage of community affairs with music and news.
After she was recognized by
Finding herself without a job, Dee moved her children to
As was common for entertainment figures, Dee lent her time to numerous charitable causes, often choosing to work with teenagers.
Death and legacy
Dee died on March 17, 1964, at
She is widely reported to have been the first black woman disc jockey in the United States,[31] though tracing ethnic broadcasting is difficult at a time when there were few opportunities for African Americans and other minorities who were often ignored by the media.[8][32][Notes 3] In 2011, Dee was honored by the Media Association of Pittsburgh with the Thomas J. MacWilliams Lifetime Achievement Award.[15][34]
Notes
- ^ Sources vary on who sponsored her. Some sources state the first sponsor was Rufus Jackson, owner of Homestead's Manhattan Music Company;[8] other sources show a group of sponsors, including a florist and her brothers James and William were the first sponsors;[2] while still others report she was initially sponsored by a group of six business people.[10]
- ^ Some sources indicate Dee was one of the first black members,[8] while others claim she was the first.[10][27]
- ^ Vivian Carter also began her career as a radio disc jockey in 1948, after winning a contest hosted by WGES in Chicago.[33]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d Death Records 1964.
- ^ a b c d e f Cloonan 2013.
- ^ The Pittsburgh Courier 1962, p. 4.
- ^ a b c Johnson 1954, p. 8.
- ^ The Pittsburgh Courier 1962, p. 1.
- ^ Hevesi 1995, p. 17.
- ^ a b The Pittsburgh Press 1964, p. 34.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Garland 1964, p. 1, Section 2.
- ^ U.S. Census 1940, p. 11B.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k The Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph 1955, p. 8.
- ^ Barlow 1999, p. 148.
- ^ Weigle 2001.
- ^ Young 2010.
- ^ a b c Johnson 1950, p. 5.
- ^ a b c d e f g Media Association of Pittsburgh 2011b.
- ^ Cohen 1959, p. 18.
- ^ Benz 2015.
- ^ Salamon 2010, p. 36.
- ^ The Baltimore Afro-American 1956a, p. 7.
- ^ a b c The Baltimore Afro-American 1964, p. 10.
- ^ Brewer 2007, p. 82.
- ^ The Baltimore Afro-American 1956b, p. 3.
- ^ The Baltimore Afro-American 1957, p. 14.
- ^ The Pittsburgh Courier 1950, p. 8.
- ^ The Pittsburgh Courier 1952, p. 10.
- ^ Rowe 1953, p. 18.
- ^ Carr 1953, p. 5.
- ^ Garland 1961, p. 18.
- ^ The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1956, p. 23.
- ^ The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1960, p. 19.
- ^ Garland 1964, p. 1, Section 2; Johnson 1985, p. 9; Cho, Kucan & Raney 2020, p. 295; The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2013.
- ^ Grame 1980, pp. 113–114.
- ^ Pruter 1992, p. 24.
- ^ Media Association of Pittsburgh 2011a.
Bibliography
- Barlow, William (1999). Voice Over: The Making of Black Radio. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: ISBN 978-1-56639-667-7.
- Benz, Kate (February 20, 2015). "Music in the Hill Was a Way of Life until 'Progress' Silenced Venues". The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Archived from the originalon December 14, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
- Brewer, John M. Jr. (2007). Pittsburgh Jazz. Charleston, South Carolina: ISBN 978-1-4396-3464-6.
- Carr, D. J. (June 5, 1953). "Big Time Artists". The Arizona Sun. Phoenix, Arizona. p. 5. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
- Cho, Byeong-Young; Kucan, Linda; Raney, Emily C. (2020). "17. Students Perspective Learning in a Disciplinary Multisource Task Environment". In Van Meter, Peggy; List, Alexandra; Lombardi, Doug; Kendeou, Panayiota (eds.). Handbook of Learning from Multiple Representations and Perspectives. New York, New York: ISBN 978-0-429-81365-8.
- Cloonan, Patrick (August 19, 2013). "Goode Tells Family's Story to McKeesport Audience". The Tribune-Review. Tarentum, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
- Cohen, Harold V. (November 3, 1959). "The Drama Desk". Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Grame, Theodore C. (1980). Ethnic Broadcasting in the United States. Publications of the American Folklife Center ;no. 4. Washington, D.C.: American Folklife Center, OCLC 6805409.
- Hevesi, Dennis (September 15, 1995). "Malvin R. Goode, 87, Reporter Who Broke a TV Color Barrier". The New York Times. New York, New York. p. 17. Retrieved October 14, 2020.(subscription required)
- Johnson, John H., ed. (May 1985). "Black Radio: Promises Yet to Keep". ISSN 0091-8660.
- Johnson, John H., ed. (September 1950). "Speaking Of People: Top Female Disc Jockey". EBSCO Host(subscription required)
- Newspapers.com.
- Pruter, Robert (1992). Chicago Soul. Urbana, Illinois: ISBN 978-0-252-06259-9.
- Rowe, Izzy (May 16, 1953). "Izzy Rowe's Notebook". Newspapers.com.
- Salamon, Ed (2010). Pittsburgh's Golden Age of Radio. Charleston, South Carolina: ISBN 978-0-7385-7223-9.
- Weigle, Ed (2001). "Porky Chedwick: Radio's Most Ignored Pioneer". Pittsburgh Radio & Television Online. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: WeigleVOX Productions International. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
- Young, Chris (March 11, 2010). "Life after WAMO". Pittsburgh City Paper. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
- "1940 U.S. Census: Homestead, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Ward 5". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. April 16, 1940. p. 11B. NARA publication T627, roll #3406, lines 68–72.(subscription required)
- "Achievement Club Cites Six Noted Pittsburghers". Newspapers.com.
- "Another WSID First". Newspaperarchive.com.
- "Certificate of Death: Mary "Dee" Goode Dudley". Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Bureau of Vital Statistics. March 19, 1964. Local registration #5719, certificate #028962-64.(subscription required)
- "Clean Block Honor Roll Climbs to 37; 12 Added". Newspaperarchive.com.
- "Courier's Mal Goode Gets ABC-TV Post in New York (pt. 1)". Newspapers.com.
- "Excited for the OAMAs". mediapittsburgh.com. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Media Association of Pittsburgh. 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
- "Interracial Sorority Installs Chapter in Pittsburgh April 6". Newspapers.com.
- "Mary Dee 7 Years on Air". Newspapers.com.
- "Meet the Winners". mediapittsburgh.com. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Media Association of Pittsburgh. 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
- "Mrs. Mary Goode". Newspapers.com.
- "Negro Entertainer Mary Dee Dies at 51". Newspapers.com.
- "Pittsburgh Radio Timeline". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- "Rites for Mary Dee, 48, Pioneer Radio Figure". Newspaperarchive.com.
- "Sollers Point Show". Newspaperarchive.com.
- "William H. Goode". Newspapers.com.
External links
- Photographs of Dee in the Carnegie Museum of Art collection by photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris.