Esther Gordy Edwards (née Gordy; April 25, 1920 – August 24, 2011) was a staff member and associate of her younger brother

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

label during the 1960s. Edwards created the Motown Museum, Hitsville U.S.A., by preserving the label's Detroit studio. She also served as president of the Motown Museum and has been called the "Mother of Motown".

Biography

Esther Gordy Edwards was born to Berry Gordy, Sr. and Bertha Fuller Gordy in

Washington County, Georgia Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,988. The county seat is Sandersville. The county was established on February 25, 1784. It was named for Revolutionary War gener ...

. She was the couple's second oldest child and eldest daughter. When she was two years old, her parents moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Edwards' younger siblings included sisters

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

, the late Loucye, and

Gwen Gwen may refer to: * Gwen (given name), including a list of people with the name * ''Gwen, or the Book of Sand'', a 1985 animated film * Gwen (film), a 2018 horror film * Tropical Storm Gwen, several storms with the name Acronyms * AN/URC-117 Grou ...

, as well as brothers Fuller, George, Berry and

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, who was the youngest of the family. Edwards attended Detroit's prestigious

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a public high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.

. She later graduated from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

. Esther married Detroit politician George Edwards in 1951. From a previous relationship, she has a son by Robert Theron Bullock named Robert Berry Bullock, and through him has three granddaughters named Robin, Elesha and Gwen and grandson Alejandro Quinn a Major in the United States Marine Corps.

Career

Edwards founded the Gordy Printing Company with two of her brothers in the mid-1940s. With her husband, they created the Ber-Berry Co-Op, which was intended to provide loans to family members. Her younger brother Berry reportedly asked for an $800 loan to help start Motown Records in 1959. After Motown became established, Edwards took an active role in management and booking tours, and founded the legendary Motortown Revue in the 1962. While at Motown, Edwards took on a motherly role towards some of the label's younger acts. In the mid-1960s, she served as Motown's vice president and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. She was succeeded in this role by

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

in 1972. Edwards later served on the board for the Detroit Bank of Commonwealth and the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce. In 1985, Edwards became the director of the Motown Historical Museum ( Hitsville U.S.A.) and has since been credited with carefully maintaining the original studios of Motown. Edwards is often described as "the pillar of Motown".

Death

Esther died surrounded by family and friends, following a long illness, at her Jefferson Towers home in Detroit on August 24, 2011. She was 91 years old.

References

1920 births 2011 deaths Cass Technical High School alumni People from Baldwin County, Georgia People from Detroit Culture of Detroit Michigan Democrats Esther Gordy Edwards Howard University alumni {{US-music-bio-stub