Mary Shipman Howard

Mary Shipman Howard (1911–1976) was one of the earliest female recording engineers and recording studio owners. She was owner of Mary Howard Recordings studio and MHR label in New York City. She worked with Glenn Miller, Arturo Toscanini,[1] and Charles Ives.[2] After leaving the studio business, she remarried as Mary Howard Pickhardt and was a well-known breeder of pugs. She was also a respected judge of dog shows across the US.[3]

Mary Shipman Howard
Born1911 (1911)
DiedNovember 17, 1976(1976-11-17) (aged 64–65)
OccupationRecording Engineer
Years active1940-1955
Known forEarliest known female recording engineer

Recording engineer

Howard was a classically trained violist who started experimenting with sound recording in the late 1930s. She moved to New York in 1940 and applied for a sound engineer job at NBC. Women were not allowed in the NBC union at the time so she was hired as secretary. When NBC lost staff to the war, Mary was allowed in the union and started working as a recording engineer.[4]

She started Mary Howard Recordings,[5] a recording studio, in the building she lived in on east 49th Street. One of her clients was Charles Ives, who would spend entire days at the studio doing recordings for personal use.[6] Some of these tracks were released as part of the album Ives Plays Ives.[7]

In 1947, Howard started releasing her own commercial recordings under the MHR label. Artists included The Herman Chittison Trio, Ethel Waters, Lucille Turner and Dale Belmont. She closed the studio in 1955 when she grew tired of being in the city.[8]

Recording equipment

Some of the studio's recording equipment included Van Eps lathe, Allied Cutting lathe, Presto 1-D Heads, and Langevin 101-A Amplifiers.[5]

Dog breeder

She owned and operated Sabbaday Kennels in Washington, CT where she bred the Sabbaday line of pugs.[9] She was recognized as a breeder who was "instrumental" in helping bring exposure to the pug breed and improving the quality.[10] Her Sabbaday pugs were “a line of excellent Pug dogs that were to dominate in the breed for decades to come.”[11]

Pug Dog Club of America

She was active with the Pug Dog Club of America and assumed roles on the board of directors.[11] Two of her pugs won the Pug Dog Club of America Specialty Show three years in a row: Star Jade of North'boro in 1961, and Ch. Sabbaday Echo in 1962 and 1963.[12]

Actress Sylvia Sidney said, “Mary was probably the best breeder and exhibitor of pugs on the Eastern seaboard.”[13] In a tribute by the Pug Dog Club of America after her death, it was said Mary “was a tremendous supporter of all Pug clubs, an outstanding judge of Pugs and a woman of great courage.”[14]

References
  1. "Radio: Perfectionist". Time. 1946-12-30. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  2. Vivian, Perlis (2005). Composers voices from Ives to Ellington : an oral history of American music. Van Cleve, Libby. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300138375. OCLC 182620709.
  3. "Mary Pickhardt Dies; Recorder". Hartford Courant. 1976-11-27. p. 4. Retrieved 2019-02-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Mary Shipman Howard | 78 RECORDS, CYLINDER RECORDS & VINTAGE PHONOGRAPHS". Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  5. "The War Gave Mary Howard Her Big Chance to Make Good Recording; She Did - And How!" (PDF). American Radio History.
  6. Vivian., Perlis (2002). Charles Ives remembered : an oral history (1st Illinois paperback ed.). Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 025207078X. OCLC 48256395.
  7. "Ives Plays Ives". New World Records. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  8. "Oral History of American Music Collections Guide: Charles Ives (Audio interview by Vivian Perlis with Mary Howard Pickhardt)".
  9. "Breeders' Aid". American Kennel Club Gazette: 126. December 1965.
  10. Louise., Gore (1990). Meet the Pug for years of happiness. Heathman, Marcy. Wilsonville, Or.: Doral Pub. ISBN 0944875017. OCLC 22629644.
  11. McDonald., Brearley, Joan (1980). The book of the pug. Neptune, NJ: T.F.H. Publications. ISBN 0876666837. OCLC 7271471.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. "PAST WINNERS OF PUG DOG CLUB OF AMERICA NATIONAL SPECIALTIES" (PDF). Pug Dog Club of America. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  13. Frankel, Haskel (1979-03-18). "Theater". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  14. "Tribute to Mary Shipman Pickhardt". American Kennel Club Gazette. February 1977: 110.
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