Speaker 1: Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
Speaker 1: is Womanica. Historically, women have been told to make themselves smaller,
Speaker 1: to diminish themselves. Some have used that idea to their advantage,
Speaker 1: disappearing into new identities. For others, a disappearance was the
Speaker 1: end to their stories, but the beginning of a new
Speaker 1: chapter in their legacies. This month, we're talking about disappearing acts.
Speaker 1: Before today's Womanicuan packed up her car and drove into
Speaker 1: the sunset. She was a talented yet overlooked musician. Her
Speaker 1: nineteen fifties recordings were some of the earliest in the
Speaker 1: singer songwriter genre, but she was never credited for her
Speaker 1: contributions until a recent discovery put her on the map.
Speaker 1: Meet Connie Converse. Elizabeth Eaton Converse was born on August third,
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty four, in New Hampshire. According to letters Elizabeth
Speaker 1: later wrote, household was quite strict. Her mother was a
Speaker 1: pianist and music was often played in the household as
Speaker 1: long as it was classical or religious. Elizabeth did well
Speaker 1: in school and attended Mount Holy College in Massachusetts on
Speaker 1: scholarship for two years before dropping out. Elizabeth then moved
Speaker 1: to New York City to pursue a writing career. Greenwich
Speaker 1: Village became the home of her reinvention. She started going
Speaker 1: by the name Connie and took up drinking and smoking,
Speaker 1: much to the dismay of her family. But not all
Speaker 1: of her new hopies were meant to annoy her parents.
Speaker 1: She also spent time painting, going on road trips, writing poetry,
Speaker 1: and teaching herself guitar. Soon, Connie graduated to writing songs,
Speaker 1: and they had a sound that was all Connie's own,
Speaker 1: way ahead of their time. Her lyrics were emotional, witty,
Speaker 1: and personal. She was a singer songwriter before the term
Speaker 1: was coined. Connie ended up writing about forty songs during
Speaker 1: her time in New York, and eventually they cemented her
Speaker 1: legacy in the music world. In the nineteen fifties, Greenwich
Speaker 1: Village was the epicenter for the Beat movement. Artists, poets,
Speaker 1: and musicians gathered in coffee shops like Gaslight Cafe and
Speaker 1: Cafe Wi. Connie spent her time with fellow creatives and
Speaker 1: befriended folk singer Pete Seeger and cartoonist Gene Deutsch. Jane
Speaker 1: became Connie's biggest supporter. He encouraged her to record her music,
Speaker 1: but there was one small problem. Connie didn't have a
Speaker 1: record deal or even access to a studio, so the
Speaker 1: pair improvised. Using Jane's tape recorder. Connie recorded her songs
Speaker 1: in her kitchen or in front of a small audience
Speaker 1: of friends at Jane's home. Despite her talents, Connie did
Speaker 1: not play typical gigs like her contemporaries, and she had
Speaker 1: trouble getting her songs in front of anyone in the
Speaker 1: music business. They didn't know what to do with her.
Speaker 1: Her sound was folksy and plaintive and raw. It was
Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, nobody was performing newly written, introspective folk
Speaker 1: songs at the time. Connie did get the opportunity to
Speaker 1: play her songs on Walter Cronkite's CBS morning show, but
Speaker 1: the appearance didn't yield more opportunities. Dejected, Connie finally had enough.
Speaker 1: In January of nineteen sixty one, she left New York
Speaker 1: for good. That same month, a young singer named Bob
Speaker 1: Dylan moved to Granweed Village. The folk scene exploded with
Speaker 1: the generation of singer songwriters. Meanwhile, Connie was living a normal,
Speaker 1: quiet life in Michigan for two years, she worked as
Speaker 1: a secretary. Eventually she became a managing editor for the
Speaker 1: Journal of Conflict Resolution. But in nineteen seventy two, Connie's
Speaker 1: career took a serious blow the journal was acquired by
Speaker 1: Yale University. Connie was out of a job. She grew
Speaker 1: depressed and began drinking more. Noticing the change in her personality,
Speaker 1: her friends pulled their money to send her to London
Speaker 1: to cheer her up, but it didn't make much of
Speaker 1: a difference. In letters to her family, Connie wrote, human
Speaker 1: society fascinates me and oes me and fills me with
Speaker 1: grief and joy. I just can't find my place to
Speaker 1: plug into it. So let me go, please, and please
Speaker 1: accept my thanks for those happy times. In August of
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy four, Connie packed up her Volkswagen Beetle and
Speaker 1: drove off. That was the last time anyone saw Connie Converse.
Speaker 1: Connie's music and name were largely forgotten, that is until
Speaker 1: a filing cabinet Connie gave her brother was opened decades later.
Speaker 1: The filing cabinet contained letters, poems, tape reels of oral histories,
Speaker 1: and all of her nineteen fifties recordings. In two thousand
Speaker 1: and nine, a compilation album of Connie's recordings was released.
Speaker 1: People started calling her the female Bob Dylan, but Connie
Speaker 1: came first. She wrote in a voice that was purely
Speaker 1: hers and no one else's. It's hard on for all
Speaker 1: the one and only Playboy the Western. All month, we're
Speaker 1: talking about disappearing acts. For more information, find us on
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast The Western Special thanks
Speaker 1: to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator. As always,
Speaker 1: we're taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you
Speaker 1: on Monday. Something's gone wrong with my guitar. All of
Speaker 1: a sudden, it's bubbling.