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Hillbilly-Music.com—The People. The Music. The History.
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About The Artist Maureen Dawdy was a part of the old WIBW Kansas Round-Up cast back in the late 1940s/1950s. Like some of the shows during that era, we find that some of them had musicians and entertainers of various types. In an article in the WIBW Round-Up in July 1949, Maureen told the readers she was a native of Wichita, Kansas and graduated (she called herself an average student) from Wichita High School East. She started her music education early in life, taking violin lessons when she was just eight years old. She furthered her musical education in school, playing the violin, singing, playing in the school orchestra, singing in the glee club and taking part in dramatic presentations, perhaps part of the reason she didn't study as much as she should have she says. After high school, her next step was attending Friends University. There, she studied voice under Roy Campbell. She mentions she continued to play the violin with Ralph Brokaw, William Wrigley, and Duff Middleton. She fondly recalls that singing with the "Singing Quakers" and in the Friends University orchestra were some of her best times. Friends University was also where Maureen met her future husband, Bill. They met while both were singing in the church choir. When she left college, she moved to New York to work with the Roy Campbell Royalists, where she did her first network broadcasts. She also sang with the Carl Sears Orchestra at Pierre's London Terrace. Maureen was also a member of an all female orchestra that called themselves the "Brick Tops" that was under the direction of Bobby Grice. Later, that group became part of Rae Samuels' "Cocktail Hour" which toured around the country. All told, she endured the road life as an entertainer for about two years she said before she got tired of it. She came home to Wichita when an opportunity to join radio station KFH came up. She became their musical director and the staff violinist for about five years. In 1939, her husband took a job in Topeka, Kansas and in December that year, they had a daughter, Sondra. Her first stint with WIBW was as a member of the cast of the old show called "Golden Belt Tent Theatre" that was under the direction of Art Holbrook. Later on, perhaps around 1944, Maureen mentions that Miss Maudie made her a part of the musical staff and as a result, was appearing on several shows. Around 1949, Maureen was on shows such as "Edmund Denney Time," "Henry's Exchange," the "Dinner Hour," the "Crossroads Sociable"; and as she says, "...of course, the "Kansas Round-Up," when the whole gang gets together." Credits & Sources
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