The influencers of their day: Black ‘Radio homemaker’ Willa Monroe ruled 1950s airwaves
Imagine, if you will, a Black Mae West in Memphis, Tennessee, in the early 1950s: elegant, her curves corseted into tight dresses, a peach-shaped face, a cool voice. She lived in luxury, went to parties, had a maid. Unmarried, no children. She greeted visitors stretched out on a chaise, dripping with furs, wearing mules with kicky tassels.
This was Willa Monroe. And she was more than a socialite. She was the first Black woman in the U.S. to host her own radio show — as a radio homemaker.