Helen Marie Black

Helen Marie Black (June 2, 1896 – January 31, 1988) was an American cultural and civic leader, journalist, and publicist. She was a co-founder of the Denver Symphony Orchestra and served as its business manager for more than 30 years, being the first female symphony manager in the United States. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1991.

Early life and education Helen Marie Black was born in Washington, D.C. to Henry Mortimer Black, a mining engineer, and his wife, Palma Lanier Black. She had a brother and a sister. Her mother, who had a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University, nurtured her love of music, literature, and the arts. joined with Jeanne Cramner and Lucille Wilkin to create one musician's organization in the city and pay union salaries. In 1934 they founded the Denver Symphony Orchestra, and the following year established the Denver Symphony Guild as a fundraising arm. Black assumed the management of the orchestra, thus becoming the first female symphony manager in the United States. She managed the orchestra, as well as handled publicity, scheduling, and staging productions,

Black was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1991.

Death and legacy Black never married. She died on January 31, 1988, in Denver at the age of 91.

In 2001 the Helen Marie Black Music Education Fund published a retrospective of her life in the book A Woman for All Seasons: Helen Marie Black, heart of the Denver Symphony Orchestra by Eva Hodges Watt.