Martha Davis Coe

Martha Davis Coe (April 24, 1907 - November 11, 1986) was a musician, composer, PR executive and inventor. She was on the staff of Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) for ten years.

Martha Davis Coe
BornMartha Laysa Davis
(1907-04-24)April 24, 1907
New York, USA
Died(1986-11-26)November 26, 1986
New Jersey, USA
Pen nameMartha Coe
OccupationComposer, musician
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
PartnerAlice M G White

Personal life

Martha Laysa Davis was the second child of Bret C. Davis and May W. Davis (née Wheeler). She married Arthur Clinch Coe (1905-1999) on July 1, 1939. They separated some time before 1946. She met her partner, Alicen White (1908-2007), an author and playwright, while they were both working for the GSUSA.[1] They lived together in New York City until 1971, when they moved to Rumson, New Jersey.

Professional life

Coe had a varied working life, dividing her time between composing, performing, theatre management, public relations, Girl Scouts, TV and radio.

She was an Executive Director for the Women's Army Corps in World War II,[2] Executive Secretary for the American Women's Association and for 10 years was the Executive Director for the Argus Archives for the humane treatment of animals.[3][4]

She was Public Relations Director for Cabrini Medical Center and Public Relations and Business Manager for the New England Repertory Theatre, Martha’s Vineyard.[5] For ten years she was assistant to the GSUSA’s Director of Public Relations.[6]

Radio, TV, Music and Theatre

In the 1940s she was an Assistant Research Director for radio station WOR, leaving to become the Music Program Director in charge of all live and recorded music programs for radio station WMCA[7] in 1945. She also worked on early television programmes at the DuMont Television Network.[8]

She had her own music studio in New York City for several years and was a composer and concert pianist[9] with wide experience in theatre operation and productions in New York and Summer Stock.[10]

For GSUSA, she directed A Dream and a Promise as part of the 1953 National Council in Cincinnati, Ohio for an audience of 3,000.[11] In 1956 she produced three large-scale arena events for the first Girl Scout Senior Roundup[12][13] in Highland State Park, Michigan. The first pageant included a military flyover and guest speaker Charlton Heston. The third pageant was written by Dorothy Fields.[14]

Between 1976 – 1986 Coe and White wrote, produced and performed two-woman shows Music Hall Favourites and Oscar Wilde and Wonderful as Coe-White Associates, appearing in New York and New Jersey.[15][16]

Works

Musical Plays and Songs

Coe wrote the music for four musical plays, with book and/or lyrics by White:

  • Quite A Young Girl(1960) Coe and White, together with lyricist Peter Colonna, wrote the two-act musical comedy Quite A Young Girl, with a libretto taken from 9-year old Daisy Ashford’s best-selling novel The Young Visiters (1919). Several playwrights had previously attempted to adapt the novel for the stage, but none of their efforts was deemed acceptable by the author. Coe and White’s version was reported to have received the author’s blessing, but they ultimately failed to find a producer.[17]
  • The Absent Minded Dragon (1963) book by James Truax and musical director Anne McLarnon. It appeared at Stage 73, off-Broadway and ran for almost three years.[18][19] The cast included Robert Campuzano, Ruth Coleman and Al Kavanagh.[20]
  • The Brownies (1964)[21] a dramatized musical inspired by Juliana H Ewing’s story of the same name from 1865.[22] It appeared at the Renata Theatre, New York.[23] and recorded on an LP.[24]
  • The Enchanted Forest (1964)[25]

Standalone songs include:

  • He Was Just a Gambling Man (1945)[26] words by Joseph Creamer and Lenore Hershey
  • The Road Winds Upwards (1959)[27] words Ann Roos, written for the 1959 Girl Scout Senior Roundup at Colorado Springs, CO
  • My World in You (1959)[28] words by Alicen White
  • Until You Said Goodbye (1959)[29] words by Alicen White

She also wrote the orchestral work Paul Bunyan Fantasy” or Old Paul and his Blue Ox, Babe (1946)[30][31] recorded by the National Orchestral Association[32]

Scripts and Publications
  • Conservation Quiz (1949),[33] a radio play to celebrate the birthday of GSUSA.
  • The Last Train Out (1962) a screenplay, written with Mary Jean Parson, Susan Wayne and Alicen White[34]
  • A Bouquet of Poems, Selected and Arranged for Choral Speaking (1966)[35] illustrated by Martha Coe. It included a 33.3 rpm record narrated by Joel Templeton.
  • Brownies’ Own Songbook (1968)[36] with music by Martha Coe. It sold over 150,000 copies[37]

Inventions

In 1961, Coe and White established May White Corporation, through which they developed and sold Grandmother’s Favourite Furniture Cream, based on a recipe from White’ s mother, and Wurry Beads, Lucite imitations of Worry beads.[38]

In 1980, Coe filed a patent for a walker with detachable seat.[39]

See also

References
  1. "'Wurry Beads' Designed for Worry Birds". Newsday. Melville, New York. April 1, 1961. p. 15. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  2. "Martha D. Coe". The Daily Register. Red Bank, New Jersey. December 1, 1986. p. 4. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  3. Lancaster, Jane (2004). Making Time: Lillian Moller Gilbreth: A Life Beyond "Cheaper By The Dozen". Boston: North Eastern University Press. p. 315. ISBN 1555536123.
  4. "Author! Author!". Girl Scout Leader (Vol. 50, No. 7 ed.). New York: Girl Scouts of USA. November 1973. p. 30.
  5. "Added Summer Theatres". Variety (Vol. 142, No. 13 ed.). New York: Variety Publishing Company. June 1941. p. 50.
  6. "Author! Author!". Girl Scout Leader (Vol. 50, No. 7 ed.). New York: Girl Scouts of USA. November 1973. p. 30.
  7. Broadcasting, Broadcasting Advertising (Vol 29, Part 2 ed.). New York: Broadcasting Publications Incorporated. 1945. p. 284.
  8. "Martha D. Coe". The Daily Register. Red Bank, New Jersey. December 1, 1986. p. 4. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  9. "Mountainside Club Women To Hear Music Favorites" (PDF). The Westfield. Red Bank, New Jersey. September 6, 1979. p. 17. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  10. "Mountainside Club Women To Hear Music Favorites" (PDF). The Westfield. Red Bank, New Jersey. September 6, 1979. p. 17. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  11. Dorothy H Hull (October 30, 1953). "With the Women". The News-Chronicle. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. p. 17. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  12. "Author! Author!". Girl Scout Leader (Vol. 50, No. 7 ed.). New York: Girl Scouts of USA. November 1973. p. 30.
  13. "Senior Girl Scout Roundup 1956". vintagegirlscout.com. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  14. "Senior Girl Scout Roundup 1956". vintagegirlscout.com. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  15. Charles Hill (November 7, 1977). "Rumson Pair Attempts Revival of Old British Music Hall Acts". Asbury Park Press. Asbury Park, New Jersey. p. 50. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  16. "Oscar Wilde Program at Women's Club". Montclair Times. Montclair, New Jersey. March 11, 1983. p. 20. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  17. "Daisy Returns". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. November 22, 1962. p. 63. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  18. Marybeth Allen (May 6, 1971). "Writer Creates Suspense". The Daily Register. Red Bank, New Jersey. p. 17. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  19. "Oscar Wilde Program At Women's Club". The Montclair Times. Montclair, New Jersey. March 10, 1983. p. 20. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  20. "The Absent- Minded Dragon > Original Off-Broadway Cast". castalbums.org. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  21. White, Alicen; Coe, Martha. The Brownies. New York: Cosmo. 12" 33 rpm
  22. ""The Brownies" on record". Girl Scout Leader (Vol. 41, No. 7 ed.). New York. October 1964. p. 31.
  23. "The Brownies". Players Magazine: The National Journal of Educational Dramatics (Vol. 42-44 ed.). New York. 1965. p. 45.
  24. "Martha Coe: The Brownies". discogs.com. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  25. "Author's Dog was inspiration for Love Story for Children". The Daily Register. Red Bank, New Jersey. March 5, 1973. p. 13. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  26. Coe, martha; Creamer, Joseph; Hershey, Lenore (1945). He Was Just A Gambling Man. New York: WOR.
  27. "1959 Girl Scout Senior Roundup Song "The Road Winds Upwards"". The American Girl (Vol. 42 Issue 3 ed.). New York: Girl Scouts of the USA. 1959. p. 5.
  28. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third Series. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1960. p. 819.
  29. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third Series. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1960. p. 819.
  30. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical Compositions, Part 3. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1946. p. 278.
  31. "Artists of Tomorrow". Musical America (Vol. 66, No. 3 ed.). New Jersey: Musical America Publications. 1946. p. 12.
  32. "National Orchestral Association collection of rehearsal and concert recordings [sound recording]". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  33. "Conservation Quiz". archives.girlscouts.org. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  34. Contemporary authors; a bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television and other fields. Detroit: Gale Research Co. 1962. p. 307.
  35. White, Alicen (1966). A Bouquet of Choral Readings selected and arranged for Choral Speaking. East Orange, NJ: Triad Publishing Co.
  36. White, Alicen; Coe, Martha (1968). Brownies' Own Songbook. New York: Roos and Coe-White Associates.
  37. "Brownie Songs". Ashbury Park Press. Ashbury Park, New Jersey. October 24, 1976. p. 5. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  38. "'Wurry Beads' Designed for Worry Birds". Newsday. Melville, New York. April 1, 1961. p. 15. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  39. Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Patents, Volume 1021, Issue 4. Virginia: U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office. 1982. p. 1293.
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