Carson, Margaret 1911-2007

Margaret Carson was born in Salt Lake City in 1911, and lived in Ohio from approximately 1920-1939.

Carson majored in political science at the University of Toledo, and received a master's degree in social administration from Ohio State University. Carson's publicity work began in Ohio for the Toledo Community Chest during the years 1937-1938. She married Charles Carson, a reporter and editor in Cleveland, with whom she had a son, also named Charles. They divorced, and she found work in New York City with Constance Hope Associates, the leading public relations firm in the city. In the early 1940s she created the Margaret Carson Agency, where one of her clients was the opera star Gladys Swarthout. Carson was the press representative for the Metropolitan Opera from 1944-1954. After a year off, in 1956 she handled press for her friend Margaret Truman's wedding to Clifton Daniel. Carson's major clients over the years included Leonard Bernstein, Barry Tuckwell, Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony, Benny Goodman, Neville Marriner, Mitch Miller, the Metropolitan Opera, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Music Festival and the New England Conservatory of Music, among many others.

From the description of Margaret Carson papers 1935-2007 1970s-1990s (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 228300030

Margaret Carson was born in Salt Lake City in 1911, and lived in Ohio from approximately 1920-1939. She majored in political science at the University of Toledo, and received a master’s degree in social administration from Ohio State University. Carson’s publicity work began in Ohio for the Toledo Community Chest during the years 1937-1938. She married Charles Carson, a reporter and editor in Cleveland, with whom she had a son, also named Charles. They divorced, and she found work in New York City with Constance Hope Associates, the leading public relations firm in the city. In the early 1940s she created the Margaret Carson Agency, where one of her clients was the opera star Gladys Swarthout. Carson was the press representative for the Metropolitan Opera from 1944-1954. After a year off, in 1956 she handled press for her friend Margaret Truman’s wedding to Clifton Daniel.

Carson’s major clients over the years included Leonard Bernstein, Barry Tuckwell, Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony, Benny Goodman, Neville Marriner, Mitch Miller, the Metropolitan Opera, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Music Festival and the New England Conservatory of Music, among many others.

Her second husband, Carl Ruff, was a press agent and the father of her daughter, Carla. Ruff also adopted her son Charles, but the marriage ended in divorce. She married Robert Sherrod in 1961, editor for the Saturday Evening Post, but divorced him in 1972. Her son Charles, who died in 2000, led a successful career as a lawyer, including work with the Watergate trial and defending President Clinton during his impeachment hearing.

From the guide to the Margaret Carson papers, 1935-2007, 1970s-1990s, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)