Charlotte Enty Catlin

Charlotte Dyer Enty was born in Pittsburgh, the daughter of Clever "Frank" Enty and Mary Jane Little Enty. Her father was a contractor. Her mother played church organ. She completed an undergraduate degree in music education at Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1923,[1] and was one of the eight founding members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority's graduate chapter in Pittsburgh, in 1927.[2]

Catlin taught piano at Volkwein's Music Store in Pittsburgh,[3] served as music director at a dance school,[4] and frequently entertained at society parties.[5][6] In 1924, she accompanied tenor Ruby Blakey at a music festival,[7] and soprano Florence Cole Talbert at the People's Tabernacle.[8] In 1925, she performed at an American Music Day event sponsored by the Outlook Alliance.[9] She was active in the Society for Music Study, a music club in Pittsburgh.[10] In 1934, she played music at a Bahá'i event in Pittsburgh.[11] One of her students was Billy Strayhorn.[12] She began accompanying Lena Horne in 1939.[13][14]

In 1942, Catlin retired from her music career and began working for the City Recreation Bureau.[15] She was director of the Ammon Recreation Center from 1950 until her death in 1968.[16][17]

In 1931, Charlotte Enty married Charles William Catlin, a post office employee.[18] In mid-life, Catlin was known for her distinctive hairstyle--parted center, with two coils of braids covering her ears.[2] She died suddenly in November 1968, aged 65 years, in Pittsburgh.[19][20]

• Charles "Teenie" Harris, "Portrait of Charlotte Enty Catlin" (1940s or 1950s), a photograph in the collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.