Vivian Carter

Vivian Carter (March 25, 1921 – June 12, 1989) and moved with her parents to Gary, Indiana, when she was a child. She graduated from Gary's Roosevelt High School in 1939. 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."

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.

Marriage and family In 1944, Carter met Jimmy Bracken, who became her business partner. They were married on December 16, 1953.

Career Radio personality In 1948, Carter won a talent contest conducted by Al Benson, a disc jockey (dee jay) at Chicago's WGES radio station. 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.

Record store owner In 1950, Carter and Bracken opened Vivian's Record Shop at 1640 Broadway in Gary's Midtown district. Vee Jay secured the American distribution rights to The Beatles in 1963, and even sold a million copies of "Introducing the Beatles", but contract loopholes and lawsuits caused the company to lose them to Capitol Records. Meanwhile, Carter continued to work as a radio dee jay, a key factor in attracting musical talent to the label.

Vee Jay Records, among the most successful independent labels of its era, made Carter a wealthy businesswoman. However, by the mid-1960s the record company was experiencing financial and legal difficulties arising from significant debts and spending beyond its means. Carter, who later admitted that she had delegated too much of the company's day-to-day management, was unable to save the company, even after attempts to establish a new management team and closing its offices in California to reduce expenses. By 1964 the company was bankrupt; it ceased record production in 1966.

Later years In 1967, Carter lost a bid for election to become Gary's city clerk and later worked in the township trustee's office. She also continued to remain active in radio as a late-night dee jay on WWCA in Gary.

Death and legacy 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.

During Carter's career as a radio disc jockey, 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.