Vivian Carter
Vivian Carter (March 25, 1921 – June 12, 1989)[1] was an American record company executive who was a founder of Vee-Jay Records with her future husband, Jimmy Bracken. Carter was also a Gary, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, radio disc jockey. Vee Jay, an independent record label, became the first successful black-owned recording company in the United States. It released original music from artists of the 1950s and 1960s in a variety of genres, including rhythm and blues, doo-wop, pop, and gospel.
Vivian Carter
Early life and education[edit]
Carter was born in Tunica, Mississippi, United States,[2] and moved with her parents to Gary, Indiana, when she was a child. She graduated from Gary's Roosevelt High School in 1939.[3] Carter excelled at public speaking, theater, and chorus. A classmate and longtime friend described her as a fun-loving extrovert with "a rich alto voice."[4]
After graduation, Carter took classes at a business college before becoming a clerical worker for the U.S. Army's Quartermaster Corps during World War II. After a year in Washington, D.C., she transferred to Chicago to be closer to family and friends.[4][5]
Marriage and family[edit]
In 1944, Carter met Jimmy Bracken, who became her business partner. They were married on December 16, 1953.[3] Bracken died in 1972.[6]
Career[edit]
Radio personality[edit]
In 1948, Carter won a talent contest conducted by Al Benson, a disc jockey (dee jay) at Chicago's WGES radio station.[7] The prize was an opportunity to host a fifteen-minute segment on WGES, which launched her radio career. Carter worked at WGES for three months, but struggled financially and returned to Gary to work in a local millinery shop until she landed a job at WJOB (AM) in Hammond, Indiana. In 1952 Carter moved to WGRY and in 1954 to WWCA in Gary, where she hosted the "Livin' with Vivian" show six nights a week. Carter aired a mix of musical genres, including blues, gospel, jazz, and what became known as doo-wop.[3][4][1][8]
Record store owner[edit]
In 1950, Carter and Bracken opened Vivian's Record Shop at 1640 Broadway in Gary's Midtown district.[4][1]
Death and legacy[edit]
By the mid-1980s, Carter's health began to fail from high blood pressure, diabetes, and strokes. Partially paralyzed, she died in a nursing home in 1989.[1][17]
During Carter's career as a radio dee jay, she helped introduce and promote the music of many notable American recording artists of the 1950s and 1960s. Although she was described by one biographer as "negligent financially toward performers" her recording company developed, she was also a pioneer in helping to promote and capture their musical sounds on vinyl records.[16][17]