Women in the Music Industry
Viola Smith Viola played drums in a number of big bands and small combos during her career in music. She joined Phil Spitalny's all-female orchestra as the drummer and later appeared in such films as 1945's "Here Come the Co-Eds" featuring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. In the 1960s she joined the...
Mary Lou Hoogenboom was a factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was hired in 1951 and began working in the sanding department, but found that she worked in every department before she retired in 1985. Her retirement occurred the same year the...
Joyce Shelven was a factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoon, Michigan. She was hired in 1947 just after the war and began working in the sanding department. Joyce worked both the belt sanders as well as the hand sanders before she left the company in 1964. ...
Mary Henkin was well known in the band and orchestra business as the hostess with the mostest. Along with her husband, Danny, they put on extravagant parties that were still talked about 30 years later. However, what many may not know is that she was half owner of all of her husband's musical...
Karen Wojcik began working for Selmer in 1973 and watched the company change hands but stayed with the same company for her entire career. She works in the office for Conn-Selmer in Elkhart and has witnessed some great changes with the use of computers and later the Internet. Her role in...
Sharman Beasley-Vesecky grew up in the music business as her grandfather, William Howard Beasley, served as the president of the NAMM Board of Directors from 1939-1940. Sharman has become the holder of her family's history and was kind enough to share the history with us during her NAMM Oral...
Mary Ann Eckroth quietly sat behind the desk working on the books while her husband Bill traveled to the local schools to help the band directors. She took care of the customers and cleaned the store when he would travel for industry meetings, and she taught herself many of the business practices...
Sally Lindner once owned and operated a beauty shop in the small farming community of Watertown, South Dakota. After her husband, Rod, opened a music store in town, she could hardly wait to get off work so she could run to the store and help out. After a while she decided to work for the store...
Shelly Morris was a school music teacher before she decided to open a music store. She always loved the small town feeling of Sheridan, Wyoming, and she was able to find a nice space right on the Main Street. Having had experience with school programs, Shelly began to develop strong relations...
Sherry Linnerooth took music lessons from Bill Eckroth, who would later open a music store in Mandan, North Dakoda. When she later taught music in Bozeman, Montana, she called on Bill to supply her with accessories and music books. Those orders increased so much that she could no longer work out...