Women of Substance with Dr. Scarlett Horton
Episode 54 - Dr. Scarlett Horton interviews Frances Maclin
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Frances Levonia Maclin, before her employment at Motown, worked for the largest black-owned newspaper in Detroit known at that time as The Michigan Chronicle. She worked in the classified section and obtained the first ad (from the then well-known Woolworth Department Store) to be placed in a black newspaper.
When she was an employee at Motown Records, she was affectionately known by her coworkers as Fran Heard Maclin. She worked for Motown Records for twenty-five years. During her time on staff, she was the tape librarian, later promoted to library director, where she had the oversight of thousands of recording tapes that were recorded at The Hitsville Studio, Golden World Studios, and The Motown Studio in Hollywood.
Frances had the awesome privilege of being a part of almost every hit that was produced at the three studios. She was the first one to handle a session reel after it came from the control room. Her job was to catalog and store the session reels and to dispense them back and forth to the engineer and producer until such time the songs were ready to be mixed and, finally, if selected, to be released.
During her years in the tape library, many songs that passed through there went on to become number one hits in the marketplace—so many that it would take several pages to name them all. However, “My Girl” by The Temptations and “I Hear a Symphony” by The Supremes were two of her favorites that she cared for from infancy to maturity.
Frances considered the tape library to be the bread and butter of the company. She shares her memories of her time with Motown in two books: "I Remember Motown: When We Were Just Family" and "Motown from the Other Side."
Upon retiring from Motown in 1986, Frances joined her husband, Charles, in full-time ministry at Word of Life in Birmingham, AL. Frances served as bookstore manager there for thirteen years before joining her husband in the outreach department.
In this episode, Frances shares her journey of working for this historical company in its infancy, including the spiritual side of the people involved. Scarlett and Frances also talk about her own conversion, and how God led her and her husband into the ministry of helps. Your faith will be inspired as you watch.
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https://ScarlettHorton.com
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