HISTORY
> Beginnings: 1901-1921
Written by Sherman Hasselstrom,
As early as the year
1893, before Syracuse University had organized an official university
band, it was documented that individual colleges would hire their own
bands to perform at games and other events. Freshman traditionally organized
a band for the annual meeting against Colgate.
It wasn’t until
1901 that an official university band was organized. Hamilton E. Cogswell,
Supervisor for Music in the Syracuse Public School District, directed
the first rehearsal of the S.U. Band on February 4th, 1901. Floyd F. Decker,
class of ’01, was elected President of the band.
On May 9th, 1901
the band, in uniform, performed its first concert in the Crouse College
Auditorium. The band’s first football game appearance took place
on October 9th, 1901 when S.U. lost to Lafayette College 5-0. The football
team was 7-2 that season.
In
1904 the band was disbanded, possibly by Chancellor Day, due to
“financial indiscretion.” Individual colleges then
resumed the practice of hiring their own bands for events.
A meeting to reorganize
the band took place on January 9th, 1907. Professor Hugh M. Tilroe, who
had founded the Northwestern University Band as a student, attended the
meeting and continued to be an instrumental figure in the band for many
years after its reformation.
The band continued
to grow, and on January 9th, 1909 it performed at the first men's basketball
game played in the new Men’s Gym. The team played St. Lawrence.
Chancellor Day eventually recognized the importance of the band and authorized
twenty $60 scholarships for band members on October 27th, 1909.
The first performance
of the Syracuse University fight song, “Down the Field,” was
played by the band on November 14th, 1913. The following day it performed
the fight song at a pep rally for the Colgate game which Syracuse lost
35-13.
Throughout
World War I, the band continued to be a presence at the university by
performing at several functions on campus. President Theodore Roosevelt
even attended a performance in 1915. In order to support the war effort,
the university became a Student Army Training Corps for the United States
during 1917-18, and scholarships were discontinued until after the war.
Professor Tilroe
was granted a leave of absence to work with the YMCA in France on April
4th, 1918, and a year later the band merged with the ROTC band that had
formed during the war. The university supplied twenty $50 scholarships,
while the uniforms and instruments were supplied by the federal government.
By 1920, the combined band represented Syracuse University and scholarships
were handled by the ROTC.
Pictures:
Top: S.U.
Band 1903
Right:
S.U. Band, 1916
Both Photos
from The Onondagan, 1903 and 1916 respectively.
The History
of the Syracuse University Band Program
Alumni