{"id":80,"featured":0,"modified":"2025-06-18 15:11:43","latitude":40.44890493079329,"longitude":-79.96483951807022,"title":"Mary Dee","address":"","thumbnail":"https:\/\/hillhistory.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/d0b3f8bc8beef77293cea74e669b5ed4.jpg","creator":["Charlie Stoops"],"description":"Disc jockeys hold an important place in popular music, bridging the gap between artists and listeners. Many famous DJs have been instrumental in bringing the latest music to the masses. One name that doesn\u2019t come up often, however, is the game-changing Mary Dee, the first Black female disc jockey in the United States, who broadcast from the Hill District.

Mary Dee was revolutionary. Among the first DJs to become a national figure, her show on Pittsburgh\u2019s WHOD attracted hundreds of thousands of listeners from 1948 to 1956. At the height of her popularity, she had a studio, interviewed celebrities, hosted public events, and promoted new talent. She also used her status to bring attention to issues in the Black community. After she left Pittsburgh in 1956, she remained on air and became a fixture in Baltimore and Philadelphia until her death in 1964.

Dee was born Mary Elizabeth Goode Dudley in 1912 in Homestead PA. Her parents, William and Mary, the children of enslaved people, moved to the Pittsburgh area in the late 1800s. Driven and keen to express herself, Dee graduated from St. Mann Radio School in Pittsburgh in 1948, and when WHOD started up soon after, she applied for a job. Though the station turned her down, she persisted and was finally offered a show on the condition she found sponsorship. After securing backing, the 15-minute \u201cMovin\u2019 Around with Mary Dee\u201d went on the air and quickly exploded in popularity.

Within months, her airtime increased to an hour, and she soon had a new segment, the highly successful, faith-based \u201cGospel Train\u201d. People from all walks of life would tune in to hear her. By the 1950s, she had established herself as WHOD\u2019s shining star, interviewing Jackie Robinson, Sarah Vaughn, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, and countless other celebrities. In 1951, the station gifted her \"Studio Dee\" on the corner of Centre and Herron Avenues in the Hill.

Dee gave to her community as much as it gave her. Committed to civil rights, she used her platform to address Black issues of the day. She frequently had her brother, Malvin \u201cMal\u201d Goode, a reporter with the Courier, on her show to cover Black news. Goode, who went on to become the first Black newsman employed by ABC, tackled the latest in segregation and police brutality. Dee also believed in giving a voice to young people. She played music popular with teenagers, such as rock and roll, emceed teen clubs, and had a teen segment hosted by her daughter Sherlynn, or \u201cLittle Dee\u201d. Additionally, she promoted the careers of obscure up-and-comers and served as a mentor for Black children, such as future guitarist George Benson.\u00a0
Unfortunately, not everything went smoothly. In 1952, she divorced her abusive husband Franklin, who left her to raise their children alone. While she and WHOD were generally popular, they faced racist backlash from some listeners. In 1955, the station was sold to buyers who converted it into WAMO, a country showcase. In 1956, Dee, her brother, and the four other Black employees were fired, with owner Leonard Walk citing competition in the \u201cNegro market.\u201d\u00a0

While Dee lost her studio, she wouldn\u2019t stay down. She moved to Baltimore and continued working, before coming to Philadelphia to start a show in 1958, invited by her friend Dolly Banks who ran a local station.. With her new program, \u201cSongs of Faith\u201d, Dee came back to the mainstream, winning greater popularity than ever before. She remained active in the Black community, joining the NAACP and the National Council of Negro Women, as well as being among the first African Americans accepted into American Women of Radio and Television. By the time of her death on March 17th, 1964, she had become legendary, and 3,000 people attended her Philadelphia funeral.

\u201cLegendary\u201d describes Mary Dee best. A trailblazer, she not only created a path for many Black women to follow, but through her connection with the society around her, from the Hill to America at large, she helped set the stage for what DJs are supposed to be. She played records others weren\u2019t willing to play and spoke about topics others wouldn\u2019t cover.","sponsor":"","subtitle":"How The First Black Female DJ Changed America","accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["

\u201cLeonard Walk, Explaining Dismissals, Says 'Station WHOD Proud of Mary Dee Show.'\u201d <\/span>Pittsburgh Courier<\/span><\/i>. August 11, 1956.<\/span><\/p>","

\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u201cMary Dee 7 Years on Air.\u201d <\/span>Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph<\/span><\/i>. August 13, 1955.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","

\u201cMary Dee Gets Divorce.\u201d <\/span>Courier<\/span><\/i>. March 15, 1952.<\/span><\/p>","

\u201cMeet the Winners.\u201d <\/span>Media Association of Pittsburgh<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>Meet the Winners | Media Association of Pittsburgh<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>","

\u00a0\u201cNegro Entertainer Mary Dee Dies At 51.\u201d <\/span>The Pittsburgh Press<\/span><\/i>. March 18, 1964.<\/span><\/p>","

\u201cRites for Mary Dee, 48, pioneer radio figure.\u201d <\/span>Baltimore Afro American<\/span><\/i>. March 24, 1964.<\/span><\/p>","

\u201cWHOD Opens Studio Dee: Mary Dee Program Has 150,000 Listeners Daily.\u201d <\/span>Courier<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 August 4, 1951.<\/span><\/p>","

Brewer Jr., John M. <\/span>Pittsburgh Jazz<\/span><\/i>. Charleston, Chicago, Portsmouth, San Fransico: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","

Cloonan, Patrick. \u201cGoode tells family's story to McKeesport audience.\u201d <\/span>TribLIVE<\/span><\/i>. August 19, 2013. <\/span>Goode tells family's story to McKeesport audience | TribLIVE.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>","

Garland, Hazel.<\/span> \u201cFirst Negro Woman Disc Jockey Dies: Pioneer Broadcaster Mary \u2018Dee\u2019 Leaves a Legacy.\u201d<\/span> New Pittsburgh Courier<\/span><\/i>.<\/span> \u00a0April 4, 1964.<\/span><\/p>","

Johnson, Toki Schalk. \u201cThe Golden Years Are Celebrated Brilliantly by Homestead\u2019s Mr. and Mrs. William H. Goode, Surrounded by Fine Family.\u201d <\/span>New Pittsburgh Courier<\/span><\/i>. October 16, 1954.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>"],"files":{"https:\/\/hillhistory.org\/files\/fullsize\/d0b3f8bc8beef77293cea74e669b5ed4.jpg":{"id":195,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"WHOD Promotional Ad","thumbnail":"https:\/\/hillhistory.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/d0b3f8bc8beef77293cea74e669b5ed4.jpg","description":"WHOD advertisement for Movin' Around with Mary Dee, which featured Mary Dee and her brother Mal Goode, on the air from 1948-1956. | Advertisement in Sponsor Magazine<\/i><\/a>, Vol. 7, No. 17, 24 August 1953. (via Wikimedia Commons<\/a>)<\/span><\/span>"},"https:\/\/hillhistory.org\/files\/fullsize\/65dd991b645093871d738cc164c63bd1.jpg":{"id":196,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Mary Dee in the WHOD studio","thumbnail":"https:\/\/hillhistory.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/65dd991b645093871d738cc164c63bd1.jpg","description":"Radio disc jockey Mary Dee and her brother, Mal Goode in her radio booth at WHOD radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1952. | Advertisement in Sponsor Magazine<\/i>, Vol. 6, No. 15, 28 July 1952 page 77 (via Wikimedia Commons<\/a>)"},"https:\/\/hillhistory.org\/files\/fullsize\/0efa370302701caa24bad216bb29fc99.jpg":{"id":197,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Studio Dee","thumbnail":"https:\/\/hillhistory.org\/files\/square_thumbnails\/0efa370302701caa24bad216bb29fc99.jpg","description":"

Crowd gathered on corner and street outside Studio Dee, WHOD radio station, Herron and Centre Avenues, Hill District<\/p> | Charles \"Teenie\" Harris"}}}