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Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg

 

One of the true living legends of Black radio, Martha Jean "The Queen" began her radio career in 1954 at WDIA in Memphis, TN. From that beginning, Black Music was given a symbol that would last an eternity. Today a historical landmark sits in front of WDIA in Memphis, recognizing the accomplishments of Martha Jean "The Queen"… a Black Radio Pioneer and Legend.

 

Martha Jean "The Queen's" career has been marked by a series of unparalleled accomplishments:

  • "The Queen" has been inducted into the DeeJay's radio exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, OH
  • "The Queen" is featured in the Radio Smithsonian, "Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was," a documentary on the history of Black oriented radio.
  • "The Queen" was honored in the nation's capitol, Washington, DC for her role in Black Radio.
  • "The Queen" was inducted in the Black Radio Hall of Fame on August 13, 1993 in Atlanta, GA
  • "The Queen" gave the invocation at the celebratory return prayer breakfast for the Ecumenical Salute to Cardinal Adam Maida.
  • "The Queen" was featured in the Radio America series, "Passing It On: Voices from Black America's Past" broadcast on over 400 radio stations across the country, February 1995.
  • "The Queen" narrated the documentary on Barry Gordy and the early years of the Motown Sound, "The Music & The Story" for the Henry Ford Museum.

The Queen was invited by President Nixon to his first Inaugural Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC
"The Queen" attended two (2) special White House meetings at the request of President Jimmy Carter.
"The Queen" was credited with the quelling of the 1967 Detroit civil disturbance.
Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg is a true Black radio pioneer. Her career should be looked upon as the radio schoolbook that helps set the guidelines and standards for Black Radio in America. In 1982 Martha Jean "The Queen" came to Detroit to WQBH as Vice President and General Manager. For fourteen (14) years she nurtured and built WQBH, establishing it as the "voice of the community." "The Queen" tripled the value of WQBH and on May 12, 1997, Martha Jean "The Queen" purchased WQBH Radio!!

 

Martha Jean "The Queen"… a radio legend, powerful voice and inspiration for all!

 



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