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 Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she ...

(GSUSA) for ten years.

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. They lived together in New York City until 1971, when they moved to

Rumson, New Jersey Rumson is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,343, a ...

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 The Women's Army Corps (WAC; ) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), on 15 May 1942, and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United S ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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. She was Public Relations Director for

Cabrini Medical Center Cabrini Medical Center of New York City was created in 1973 by a merger of two Manhattan hospitals. It closed in 2008 due to financial difficulties cited by the Berger Commission, followed by a bankruptcy filing. In January 2010, the five build ...

and Public Relations and Business Manager for the New England Repertory Theatre,

Martha’s Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

. For ten years she was assistant to the GSUSA’s Director of Public Relations.

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 in 1945. She also worked on early television programmes at the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...

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

Summer Stock In American theater, summer stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock ...

. 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. In 1956 she produced three large-scale arena events for the first ''

Girl Scout Senior Roundup There have been several Girl Scout Senior Roundups held by the Girl Scouts of the USA, gatherings meant to show off the best of Girl Scouting. Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from other countries were invited to attend as well. International Senior R ...

'' in Highland State Park, Michigan. The first pageant included a military flyover and guest speaker

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

. The third pageant was written by

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote more than 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include " The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (193 ...

. Between 1976 and 1986 Coe and White wrote, produced and performed two-woman shows ''

Music Hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

Favourites'' and ''

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

and Wonderful'' as Coe-White Associates, appearing in New York and New Jersey.

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 Margaret Mary Julia Devlin (née Ashford; 3 April 1881 – 15 January 1972), known as Daisy Ashford, was an English writer who is most famous for writing '' The Young Visiters'', a novella concerning the upper class society of late 19th century ...

’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. * ''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. The cast included Robert Campuzano, Ruth Coleman and Al Kavanagh. * ''The Brownies'' (1964) a dramatized musical inspired by Juliana H Ewing’s story of the same name from 1865. It appeared at the Renata Theatre, New York. and recorded on an LP. * ''The Enchanted Forest'' (1964) Standalone songs include: * ''He Was Just a Gambling Man'' (1945) words by Joseph Creamer and

Lenore Hershey Lenore may refer to: __NOTOC__ Arts and entertainment * "Lenore" (poem), by Edgar Allan Poe *Lenore, an unrelated character in the poem "The Raven", also by Edgar Allan Poe * "Lenore" (ballad), a 1773 poem by Gottfried August Bürger * "Lenore" (mel ...

* ''The Road Winds Upwards'' (1959) words Ann Roos, written for the 1959 Girl Scout Senior Roundup at Colorado Springs, CO *''My World in You'' (1959) words by Alicen White * ''Until You Said Goodbye'' (1959) words by Alicen White She also wrote the orchestral work ''

Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His tall tales revolve around his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox, his pet and working animal. The character originate ...

Fantasy” or '' Old Paul and his Blue Ox, Babe'' (1946) recorded by the

National Orchestral Association National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Scripts and Publications

* ''Conservation Quiz'' (1949), 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 * ''A Bouquet of Poems, Selected and Arranged for Choral Speaking'' (1966) illustrated by Martha Coe. It included a 33.3 rpm record narrated by Joel Templeton. * ''Brownies’ Own Songbook'' (1968) with music by Martha Coe. It sold over 150,000 copies

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 Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands ...

imitations of

Worry beads Worry beads or komboloi/kompoloi (, , 'bead collection'; plural: , ) is a string of beads manipulated with one or two hands and used to pass time in Culture of Greece, Greek and culture of Cyprus, Cypriot culture. Unlike the similar prayer beads ...

. In 1980, Coe filed a patent for a ''walker with detachable seat''.

External links

YouTube channel 'Songs for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coe, Martha Davis 1907 births 1986 deaths Girl Scouts of the USA people American lesbian musicians American musical theatre librettists People from Rumson, New Jersey Women musical theatre composers American musical theatre composers American LGBTQ composers Lesbian composers 20th-century American women inventors Women's Army Corps soldiers Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting