COLLEGE SINGING IN AMERICAN COLLEGE LIFE: 1636-1860 by JAMES LLOYD WINSTEAD (Under the Direction of Thomas G. Dyer) ABSTRACT The singing of college alma maters and fight songs of today owe their beginnings to a rich history of singing in American college life. Singing in American colleges existed from the earliest days of Harvard and Yale and continued with the growth of higher education into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and beyond. Some might not expect singing to have been a part of Puritan structured colonial and academic life, but plenty of evidence exists regarding singing in higher education. Sacred singing, buoyed by Puritan ministers’ demands for improvement, also stimulated secular singing, which mirrored the increasingly diverse intellectual, artistic and social development of the larger American society as the country matured. Within this broader context of American music, American colleges developed their own unique formal and informal singing traditions. While music has many forms and methods of delivery, this historical research primarily focused on instances of singing associated with college life from the founding of Harvard to the publication of the first college song book in 1853 and the first collection of songs of multiple colleges in 1860. INDEX WORDS: students’ songs – United States, college life – United States COLLEGE SINGING IN AMERICAN COLLEGE LIFE: 1636-1860 by JAMES LLOYD WINSTEAD B.B.A., The University of Georgia, 1989 M.Ed., The University of Georgia, 1997 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION ATHENS, GEORGIA, 2005 © 2005 All Rights Reserved COLLEGE SINGING IN AMERICAN COLLEGE LIFE: 1636-1860 by JAMES LLOYD WINSTEAD Major Professor: Thomas G. Dyer Committee: Melvin B. Hill, Jr. Libby V. Morris Scott L. Thomas J. Douglas Toma Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2005 DEDICATION I owe my sanity to the support of my wife, Susan. I owe my insanity to my children, Carlton and Maria. All of my efforts are for them first and foremost. This work is dedicated to them. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Dyer for his guidance in both the preparation of this dissertation and in the exploration involved in pulling this story together. I also owe a special thanks to Dr. Betty Jean Craige for her support and encouragement throughout my graduate programs and professional development. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. David Randolph who guided me through my musical undergraduate days and who would have likely chuckled of my educational path, “who would’ve thought.” v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................1 2 ANTECEDENTS: COLLEGE SINGING IN THE PURITAN CULTURE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY .................................................................................7 3 SACRED AND SECULAR EVIDENCE OF COLLEGE SINGING IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY...................................................................................30 4 COLLEGE SINGING IN STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY...................................................................................76 5 COLLEGE SINGING: THE FIRST COLLEGE SONGBOOKS...............................120 6 EPILOGUE .................................................................................................................159 NOTE ON SOURCES .................................................................................................................171 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................175 vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Student life in the twenty-first century enjoys much from which to choose in the way of the extracurricular. From numerous student groups and social activities, to the increasingly diverse backgrounds and experiences of students themselves, undergraduates of today have an expansive academic and cultural world, — institutionally constructed, student constructed and with variations in-between. One pastime that students in American colleges have always participated in is singing. Long before the Ipods, Mp3s and CDs of today, before college glee clubs, musical groups, and fraternity songs, before the hymns of college alma maters and the rahs of college fight songs became commonplace, students sang. Students of the earliest American colleges created their own literary melodies and verse that they shared with their classmates. This dissertation begins at the dawn of higher education in America with the founding of Harvard in 1636. The investigation concludes in 1860 just prior to the start of the Civil War. The war serves as a useful historical marker, but 1860, for purposes of this investigation, is chiefly significant as the date of the first published college songbook, which contained songs related to multiple colleges. The first college songbook devoted to the music of a single college (thus an even more significant event) is a collection of college songs published for Yale in 1853. A handbook on college life also authored during this time helps tie these three elements together and gives some cohesiveness to understanding the singing traditions of American college life in the formative years. College singing developed in multiple ways with the growth of higher education in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Thus, this historical research focuses on all instances of singing associated with college life during this time. Many unique applications of song persisted in various forms through this period, and college singing influenced students in a number of ways. While it was generally an entertaining pastime and common social practice, singing also had other subtle and not so subtle effects. Singing indoctrinated students into the life of formal and informal student organizations as well as encouraged them to conform to college rituals and celebrations. From another perspective, singing clubs evolved that focused more on singing from a formal musical and artistic standpoint and the application of musical talents at official college functions. While colleges used song to reinforce religious practices and ceremonial observances, students also used singing for their own advantage. Students sang to express a variety of sentiments. They used songs to express humor, to highlight the achievements or underachievements of their peers and to mock faculty and the college establishment. In extreme circumstances, they sang to intimidate classmates and faculty and to defy college authorities. Through many different forms or associations, students experienced singing as a constant component of many aspects of college and student life. The body of this dissertation explores dynamics that inspired singing, including the formal and informal uses of song, as well as the development of singing traditions (some sustained, some fleeting) up to the latter half of the nineteenth century. By the early twentieth century, college songs were ubiquitous elements of college life. This study sheds light on how these traditions began. Some of the principal questions dealt with here are: Why and how did singing, and more broadly, music, emerge on college campuses that led to many traditions and folklore of college campuses? Where did the inspiration for singing and college songs originate? 2 What were the factors that came to play in the nineteenth century and even earlier? Did singing always exist on college campuses, or did it suddenly emerge? Did administrations utilize singing for their own purposes? The beginning chapter sets the stage for college singing and related influences during the seventeenth century. The focus is primarily on the environment that influenced music during this time, especially the Puritan way that shaped a significant portion of singing in the colonies. The chapter also gives attention to the customary social music practices of colonial life as well as substantial hints as to where the thoughts of music led some of the earliest American students. As Harvard emerged as an institution of higher learning, connections to singing in college surfaced as well. Both religious and secular aspects of college singing appeared from the earliest manifestations of college life. The second chapter starts with instances of secular singing in college ceremonial life as well as a general examination of the religious or regular singing movement in the early eighteenth century. The broader examination into religious attitudes toward singing gives insight into the changing social practices that led to the singing school movement that proliferated toward the mid-part of the century. This cultural transition promoted an increased prevalence of secular music in colleges as well as society at large. Leading from this general context, songs used in college ceremonies provide specific examples of forms of singing that were en vogue for official college functions during the period. Further examination reveals early college leaders who utilized singing for institutional purposes. Finally, the emergence of student groups provides a foundation of the extracurricular and informal forces that eventually led to development