The Glee Club of East Palestine, Ohio - part 1

    

Sometimes photographers get lucky.
Their subjects all look into the camera lens,
refrain from blinking or twitching,
and put on a natural expression of good humor.
The result can be a sparkling photo
filled with personality and character.

Today I'm featuring a fine example of how a photo
can be an affecting portrait of a group of young men
while also revealing something about each individual. 

It's a picture of
a small musical ensemble
of boys roughly the same age
displaying various degrees
of youthful self-confidence and shy unease.

It's a super photo
not unlike dozens of similar photos
of musical boys in my collection.
Except that this little band
has one member
who makes this image
an exceptional photo,
and for its time, even rare, too.

He stands in the center, 
hands atop a trombone.
Unlike everyone else in his ensemble,
His gaze is directed slightly upward to the left.
He wears a dark overcoat, collar upturned,
and hat pushed back on his head. 
A hint of a smile suggests he is about to laugh.
He's a young man, maybe 16 -18 years old.
He is also clearly African-American,
a distinction that wouldn't merit any comment today,
but when this photo was taken
his presence with the other boys 
was very remarkable.

This postcard photo has been in my collection for a long time.
Yet until a few weeks ago, I did not know how exceptional it really was.

Allow me to introduce
James Aaron Washington.

He has a good story to tell. 

This postcard was featured on my blog in May 2010. It was my 23rd post and I gave it the title: Schneider's 1908 High School Band. The photo shows thirteen young men in an informal band who play mostly brass instruments with a couple of clarinetists and two drummers. The photographer is unidentified but has crudely written EP.H.S G C in the upper left corner and 1908-09 in the other. The boys look like a happy bunch of fellows, not unlike teenagers of today. But in the center there is one face whose complexion makes this photo different, especially because it was taken in 1908-09.

The back has a message written to Miss Jean Sutherin of Ocean Park, California. The postmark date is clear, JUN 10, 1909, but the location is partly missing with only ITS.& CHI. visible.

I am planning a
postcard shower
for Robert on his
birthday, June 19,
and tho't you folks
might like to join
in with some
cards. Want to
surprise him. 

Love from Ethel.

This is Schneider's band.

The message has no useful clue as to the writer's address, so how could I identify what EP.H.S. G C actually meant? The H.S. are likely High School. G C ? maybe Glee Club? But EP might be the initials for dozens of places in America. And who was Schneider?

In 2010 there were few archive resources available on the internet and, to be honest, my research skills were  still pretty rudimentary. By chance later that year I found a duplicate of this postcard listed on eBay and the seller noted that it came from East Palestine, Ohio. This was a great clue and I quickly put my new subscription to Ancestry.com to good use. 

I soon found enough references to make an update to the post, identifying the writer as Ethel Chamberlin, the daughter of Robert and Mary Chamberlin, living at Taggart St. in East Palestine, Ohio. Ethel was then about age 18 and was setting up a birthday surprise for her brother, Robert S. Chamberlin, who would be celebrating his 11th birthday on June 19.  A few years later his name was listed as a veteran in the Ohio Soldiers & Sailors Military Register along with that same date of birth. But I made a mistake thinking he was one of the band members. At age 11 he was still attending East Palestine's grammar school and was not yet in high school.

East Palestine, Ohio is in far eastern Ohio, about 18 miles north of the Ohio River, 20 miles south of Youngstown, and 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. In 1910 the U.S. Census recorded that it had 3,537 residents, a nearly 42% increase from 1900. The town reached its peak in 1920 with a population of 5,750 but has since gradually declined to 4,761 in 2020. But I think it would be fair to say that in 1908 East Palestine was a thriving community. 

Sometime since I last did research on this postcard, the East Palestine Library in conjunction with OhioMemory.org added a digital archive of the Reveille Echo, East Palestine, Ohio’s weekly newspaper, which operated from March 1894 to April 1922. The editions in the archives comprise papers from August 1904 to June 1910, January 1913 to March 1915, and January 1918 to April  1922, just enough to cover the timeframe of my postcard. Each week the Reveille Echo generally  printed a generous 10 pages of six column text that covered local, regional and national news. But like many small town papers it is a treasure trove of social trivia about the citizens of East Palestine and vicinity. 

A search for "Glee Club" quickly produced several hits, including this one from 19 November 1908. 

East Palestine OH Reveille-Echo
19 November 1908

The boys of the high school have organized a Glee Club, under the leadership of Miss Smith, instructor of music in the public schools. Those composing the Club are Cecil Oliver, James Washington, William Wirth, Walter Atchison, Earl Ward, Raphael Arnold, Glen Early, John George, Wilbur Forney, Willie Atkinson, Earl Wolfe, Sam Bye, and Donald Dorsey.  They are at present practicing several songs in which they are progressing very nicely. They will at some future date give an entertainment showing their ability in said line.

_ _ _

When I did my first research in 2010, I learned that East Palestine was just a village within Unity Township, one of eighteen townships in Columbiana County, Ohio. In the 1910 census Unity had only four census districts, which amounted to roughly 136 census sheets with 50 names per page. Even from a general examination of the data it was clear that most people in Unity were born in Ohio or Pennsylvania, with a scattering from New York or Kentucky. In 1910 there were few immigrants from foreign lands. And even fewer people from Southern states.

For the column under "Color or race" the census takers wrote a W for nearly every single person. So it was not hard to spot when a different letter was written. There were five.

• Yie Sing was a man marked CH for Chinese. He was age 37 and worked as a laundryman. 
• Lawd Snoden was a woman with B for Black. She was age 45, born in North Carolina and a servant for the large family of Mr. W. S. George, general manager of a pottery factory. We will meet Mr. George later.
• Joseph Dawson was Black man who was also a servant of a private family. He was age 38 and listed his birthplace as Ocean. His parents both born in Africa. 
• Samuel Wheeler was young Black man, age 19, a servant for a physician and his wife, and born in Pennsylvania.
• James Washington was also Black and 19 too. He was listed as a servant living in the home of a lumber merchant's family. He was also born in North Carolina.

The 1910 U.S. Census included three questions on education. Can this person read? Can they write? Did they attend school anytime after Sept. 1, 1909?  Both Samuel and James could read and write. But only James Washington answered Yes to the last question. 

With the Reveille Echo 1908 report on the East Palestine High School Glee Club I now had proof that James was a student and a member of the group. It also seems reasonable to assume that the thirteen names correspond to the thirteen boys in the postcard. 

East Palestine OH Reveille-Echo
25 February 1909

Just a few months later in February 1909 the East Palestine High School Glee Club presented a concert at the East Palestine Opera House. There were seventeen numbers and James Washington was listed as a soloist or part of a trio. His first song was "Clang of the Forge" by Rodney. Here is a YouTube recording of a 80 rpm disk produced by Columbia Record Co. in 1901-04 with baritone J. W. Myers singing. According to the Discography of American Historical Recordings, the label incorrectly attributes the song to an operetta "Robin Hood".  

In this concert the glee club finished with a piece entitled "Schneider’s Band" by Mundy, which Ethel Chamberlin referenced to in her postcard message. I believe its full title was “The Drum Major of Schneider’s Band” with words and music by Arthur J. Mundy, published in 1880. It was a popular piano piece in this era and likely familiar to the East Palestine audience though probably not in the Glee Club's arrangement. The boy with a top hat seated center holds a long stick or baton which would be appropriate for a drum major, so I think his prop and Ethel's comment means the photo was taken sometime around 25 February 1909.

The following week the Reveille Echo published a review under the headline, "Boys Glee  Club give pleasing entertainment at Opera House Friday night." To a large audience, "The boys surprised us all and perhaps even themselves in the rendition of their program.  They are a credit to the institution and city they represent.  Of course theu did not give us an evening such as might have been given by [Enrico] Caruso, and yet even he would have been agreeably surprised, and who can tell but perhaps there was a second Caruso on the stage that evening.  Several times the boys were encored and they deserved it.  We would not single out any part of the program, only to say Jack and Jill had a glorius time getting up that hill and down again with their buckets, and George, Wolfe, and Washington were very choice about their future wives, and if you never have heard Schneider's Band—well that was worth the entire admission fee.  Boys tell us when you are ready and we'll be there."

After searching for James' name in the Reveille Echo, I found that he was already an accomplished vocalist, having performed "Down in the Deep Let  Me Sleep" at his  grammar school commencement in 1906. Between 1906 and 1910, James Washington's name appeared in several notices as a soloist in school or church concerts. He also participated in the high school debate and oratory contests. Though in this era most schools did not promote team sports or athletic activities as they do in modern times, East Palestine high school did have a track team that competed against other schools. James was a member of that team and distinguished himself in the 50 yard dash and standing broad jump. 

Most small towns like East Palestine were understandably proud of their schools and postcards of a local high school building were, of course, a popular medium for townsfolks. This postcard of East Palestine's high school was sent to Miss Nellie E. Marsh of Warren, Pennsylvania from East Palestine on 11 June 1909. 

6 — '09
Rec'd your card and
was glad to hear from
you.  James Wordsworth
still has complete
victory and I still have
the blessing.
Passed in all my Exams.
Yours Respectfully
Everett Stackhouse
P.S. Excuse writing as my pen scratches.

Evidently Everett Stackhouse was also a member of the Glee Club as he is listed as a soloist on the program. He sang "My Native Village Bells" by Zeise. It's possible then that he is in the photo too. His mention of James Wordsworth is intriguing and made me wonder if it was a nickname for James Washington. In fact there was a James B. Wordsworth, born in 1893 in England, who lived in the county and must have been a rival to Everett in some way.

Coverage of East Palestine high school events focused more often on literary and debate contests. Each year the senior, junior, sophomore, and freshmen students, both boys and girls, joined one of two scholar societies, the Athenians and the Philomathians. During the year there were contests and concerts where each society competed against the other. 

East Palestine OH Reveille-Echo
20 January 1910

In January 1910, Everett Stackhouse and Harry Johnson faced Cecil Oliver and James Washington in a debate. The question for discussion was "That High School athletics, as at present conducted, are detrimental."

Oliver and Washington  from the Athenian society would contend for the affirmative. Johnson and Stackhouse representing the Philomathians would take the negative. The notice promised an "interesting and spirited" contest "from opening to close."

"The contestants are loaded and are putting on the war paint today with a view of having both sides win, of course.  Many living examples of the good effects of high school athletics are being dressed up and will be on exhibition, and many a skeleton will be dragged from the dead past and will grin upon the audience with all its deadly ghastliness.  It will be worth hearing."

_ _ _

 

East Palestine OH Reveille-Echo
27 January 1910

The next week the newspaper ran a review. Harry Johnson and Everett Stackhouse argued that high school athletics "is instrumental in keeping boys in school; that it inspired better work; that it develops the best that there is in a boy; that it develops quickness pf decisions and decisive actions." [*]

However Cecil Oliver and James Washington, in their affirmative argument for the detrimental effects of athletics, presented "the following points: that many boys are hurt for life; that a spirit of cheating is fostered, that evil practices grow out of practices indulged in on the athletic field; that contention and strife are engendered between schools; that people pay taxes mainly to develop mental and moral power—not to undermine them; that it is the history of athletics that interest in studies declines as the interest in sport arises; that the history of the local school points to the fact that the students of the past who made most of their books are making most of life."

Oliver and Washington prevailed and won the debate. Sadly, only a few weeks later, Everett Stackhouse quit school to take a job at a railroad yard outside of Pittsburgh.

[*] This is a correction from my first version of this story. I was mistaken about the report, having Oliver and Washington make the  argument that athletics were a good thing. But they were arguing for the affirmative of the question, so they were the "opposing side" making a case that athletics were detrimental for boys. That puts the reporter's sentence "The utility of athletics...got a black eye." in better context and more understandable. 

_ _ _

The biggest school event in East Palestine seems to have been an annual oratory contest recently sponsored two years before by Capt. R. C. Taggart, a prominent local businessman. The event was  set for the end of April and consisted of the Athenian and Philomathian societies each presenting one half of the evening program. There were songs, choruses, and recitations of famous poems and stories. James Washington was with the Athenian side on the second half. He first sang a duet with his friend Cecil Oliver and then followed it two numbers later by reciting Daniel Webster's "Supposed Speech of John Adams." in favor of the Declaration of Independence.

The speech is taken from an address Daniel Webster delivered in Boston, Massachusetts on August 2, 1826 at Faneuil Hall. He was commemorating the lives of Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who had both died a month before on July 4, 1826, exactly fifty years after the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was a notable speech that was considered a model of oration for students (and politicians, too) to learn. The first and lines read:

Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my

heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that, in the beginning, we

aimed not at independence. But there's a divinity which shapes our ends.

The injustice of England has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own

interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence

is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is

ours. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration? 

........... 

But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured that this
Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood;
but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the
thick gloom of the present I see the brightness of the future, as the
sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we
are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it
with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On
its annual return they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of
subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation,
of gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come.
My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All
that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am
now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off as I began, that, live
or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living
sentiment, and, by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment;
independence _now_, and INDEPENDENCE FOREVER. 

The Athenian society won on points and for their efforts their lead orators, Jean Bycroft for the girls and James Washington for the boys, were each awarded a $10 gold piece. 

A month later on 26 May 1910 East Palestine High School held its commencement with seventeen students in the graduating class, eight young women and nine young men. James Washington was one of them. Instead of just one valedictorian giving a speech, all seventeen graduates gave a short "oration". The address and diplomas were given by the president of the board of education, Mr. G. G. Wilkinson. 

* * *

By now I hope that readers will recognize that James Washington was clearly a talented and accomplished young man who had made a name for himself in his school and his town. I could easily stop his story here, but a big question remained. How did a Black servant to the private family of Joseph A. Meek, a lumber merchant, get a high school diploma in 1910? He was born in North Carolina, his parents in South Carolina. Where was his family?  Was he an orphan? Was he a ward of a benevolent white family? 

1910 U.S. Census, East Palestine, Ohio

In all of the newspaper reports I found on James Washington, and I found a lot—over 56 occasions when he did something newsworthy, not one referred to the color of his skin. In my search of the Reveille Echo for the terms "colored," "negro," or "black" the words were rarely used and usually only in reports from other parts of the country. Considering how many Black people lived in East Palestine, this is not surprising. But it suggests that the bigotry and prejudice found in most parts of the United States, North and South, were not present in East Palestine's newspaper and perhaps absent from many of its citizens too. 

How could I find the answers to this mystery? Was I even correct about the identity of the young man in the center of my postcard? Was his name really James Washington? 

I should point out that the name, James Washington, is very common which makes finding the exact person in census and civil records a frustrating challenge. And to compound the difficulties, Washington, of course, is arguably one of the most used words in the English language, so finding useful newspaper reports is exactly like sifting through mountains of sand to find a small diamond. 

But I got lucky and found one. 

Three years after graduating
the Reveille Echo heard news
from one of East Palestine's favorite sons.

James won another debating prize.

East Palestine OH Reveille-Echo
17 April 1913

   Won in Inter-Collegiate Debate

James Washington who is [in] taking a Raleigh, N. C., [taking] recently won the inter-classical course in Shaw University, [recently won the] collegiate debate at Raleigh. James and his colleague Jesse Bean were presented with a silver cup. James is a graduate of the local high school and his many local friends will be pleased to hear of his success.

 

Shaw University is a historically Black university in Raleigh, North Carolina, founded by the American Baptist Home Mission Society and pastor Henry Martin Tupper in 1865. It was designed to be a coeducational institution open to men and women. One of Tupper's first goals was to establish a school of medicine and in 1881 Shaw University became the first medical school to train African-American doctors in the South, and the first medical school in the state to offer a four-year curriculum. In 1888 Shaw University opened a school of law, the first of its kind for African-Americans in the country.  By 1900, Shaw University had trained more than 30,000 black teachers.

A degree in Arts & Sciences at Shaw University in 1911 required a first year student to take courses in Latin, English, Algebra, English History, Bible, Drawing, Music, and Industries. Tuition and board for the eight month school year was roughly $75 for men plus incidental fees for music lessons or laboratory equipment. All paid in advance.  

In 1910 any young Black man with aspirations to further his education would know the reputation of Shaw University. It was a school whose alumni included many lawyers, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and other members of the upper professional class in America's black communities. 

From what little I discovered about James Washington's high school life in East Palestine he seems to have achieved enough of a proper education to merit applying to a college. But how did he manage to go from Ohio to North Carolina? He didn't seem to have a family and supposedly was employed as a servant. How could he pay the expense of going to any college, much less one so far away? 

Nonetheless I found the name James Washington listed in the freshman and then sophomore classes at Shaw University in its college bulletins for 1911–13. Clearly he was using his debate and oratory skills to good use. But beyond that, there didn't seem to be any way to confirm his identity and connect the James in Ohio with the one in North Carolina. 

Then I found another diamond.
It was from a report in June 1914
on a page in The New York Age,
considered the most illustrious
African-American newspaper of its time.

The New York Age
4 June 1914

In the news from Asheville, North Carolina
was this brief announcement:

James Washington, a graduate of East Palestine, O., will wed Miss Vivian Balston, a graduate of the Allen Home, on June 2 at the First Baptist Church.

Asheville, North Carolina was James Washington's hometown. 

It is also where I live now in 2023.

And it is where his story really starts.

To Be Continued Next Week.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where everyone celebrates
the start of a new school year.

Jackson's Music School of Chicago

 

Professional photographers
face their greatest challenge
when hired to take a photo of a large group of people.
Will there be enough space to accommodate them all?
Is there a good place for the camera? A balcony or raised platform?
How is the lighting? Any distracting reflections?

Then a photographer must tackle the difficult logistics of arranging people.
Children can always go on the floor in front,
but women usually prefer to sit.
Are there enough chairs?
Tall men, of course, stand at the back
but short fellas are going to need a step up.

Finally there's the question of where to place important people.
Typically center is best, but sometimes they insist being on the sidelines.
And every so often, subjects come with accessories that need to be displayed.
Things like flowers, banners, fraternal regalia,
sporting equipment, or the most troublesome—musical instruments.
That's when the photographer becomes a stage manager,
a theater director guiding the actors
to find their character's true expression.
It takes time and skill to position everyone just right.
Then the photographer takes a deep breath and shouts,
"Ready? Eyes on the camera everyone!"
"One,     two,    three!"
The shutter clicks and the moment is captured.

The photographer of Webb Studio in Chicago
needed a lot of skill to take a photo of this very large group of musicians.
It must have been a test of everyone's patience
as the children and adults look like
they've become very tired of waiting.
Any smiles are few and far between.

It's a class photograph of students at
 W. L. Jackson's Music School
3027 State Street in Chicago, Illinois.

The group numbers 72 people plus Prof. Jackson who stands on the right dressed in a formal white tie and tailcoat. They are in a room with a very tall ceiling but it's only about 25-27 feet wide. In the front are a row of young boys, about age 10-12, seated on a long plank laid atop wooden boxes. The next two rows are mostly women who are so close together I think they are sitting on higher benches. Behind them are people standing with the back rows of men on higher risers. On the left is an upright piano.

There are 39 violinists, six trombonists, five clarinetists, five cornet or trumpet players, two drummers, one tenor saxophonist, and one mellophone player. Thirteen people have no instrument but some hold a scroll of paper symbolizing they are a pianist or organist. The others may be vocalists. Most of the group are men and boys, but there are 28 women, some looking older than 30. But there is one common  element for the entire group. They are all African-American musicians.

The date of this large 10" x 8" photo is hard to estimate, but judging by the women's hair and dress styles and the boys in knee pants with long stockings (each with neatly crossed legs) I think this was taken some time around 1918-1925. 

Prof. Jackson has the look of a professional musician though I can't tell if he has a baton or a violin bow in his hand. I'm sure everyone called him "professor" because in earlier times every band leader or music teacher was given this honorific regardless of whether they had any academic diplomas. A search through the Chicago city directories produced several listings for Jackson's Music School under "Music Schools" from 1919 to 1928. 

1921 Chicago city directory

The small notice  claimed it was "The Largest, Best and Cheapest, Practical Music School in Chicago. Conducted by W. L. Jackson, teacher of all brass and string instruments, violin, piano, mandolin and guitar." The address at 3027 State Street matched the photograph's caption. However finding W. L. Jackson's full name presented a challenge. 

1911 Chicago city directory

The city directory of Chicago is an imposing volume of names and businesses laid out in four columns a page in very tine print. The surname Jackson is one of the more common names and with a forename initial of W, there are a lot of choices from Walker to Wylam. But fortunately there were only three men named Walter L. Jackson, and only one with the occupation "music teacher". His residence was at 3235 S. State Street, practically next door to his music school. 

Beyond this I was unable to discover any more clear references for Walter L. Jackson in census, civil, or military records, so I don't know anything about his background. And though I found his school in reports of the Chicago Defender, a historic black newspaper in Chicago, this archive is locked behind a paywall which makes it unavailable to non-academic researchers like myself. 

I did determine that Walter L. Jackson began offering music lessons in Chicago in about 1911 and that he moved into a larger space, presumably the one in my photograph, in December 1912. I don't think he would have had time each week to give lessons to 72 musicians by himself. I suspect he either offered group classes or employed other music instructors for some instruments. Other Chicago newspapers in the 1920s reported that Prof. Jackson's students presented pleasing concerts or provided music for other organizations' events. The last listing in the Chicago city directory for W. L. Jackson's Music School was 1928. After that year his music business seems to have closed. My best guess is that this photo dates from 1920-22 when his school reportedly had 30 violinists, enough for a "student orchestra" that played for a Chicago fraternal society's charity event.

The music culture within the African-American community of Chicago has a long history. This photo is not unlike one I featured in my story from July 2012, The Columbia Concert Band, which dates from around 1936. In this era musical training was considered by both black and white families as an important part of a full education. Sadly, however, this is an example of how America's segregated society once divided people in music just as it did in other aspects of life. These black musicians might find opportunities to perform in their churches and fraternal organizations and even work as profession entertainers, but only so long as they were with other black musicians. Discrimination was the rule in the 1920s and it would be several more decades before bands and orchestras were integrated. 

Though I am unsure of the date of this photo, I feel certain it was taken only a few years after a tragic event in American history, the so-called "Chicago race riot" of 1919. It began on a hot July day at a Chicago beach on Lake Michigan when some Black teenagers on a small raft drifted into an informally-segregated white swimming area at a beach near 29th Street (about 2 miles east of Jackson's Music School on State Street.) Some white beachgoers became indignant, and one man began hurling rocks at the young Black men. A rock struck 17 year-old Eugene Williams and caused the teen to drown. 

Tensions at this unmarked and unofficial 'color line' quickly escalated between the white and Black sections of the beach. Hostility became more uncontrollable when a white police officer prevented a Black police officer from arresting the white man responsible for Williams' death, and instead arrested a Black man. Chicago neighborhoods were soon caught up in the melee as white gangs went into Black neighborhoods, and Black workers going to and from work were attacked. Chicago police failed to protect Black residents or arrest any white marauders. Peace was restored only after the Governor of Illinois deployed nearly 6,000 Illinois National Guard troops around the Black neighborhoods to prevent further white attacks. 

The 1919 Chicago riot lasted nearly a week, from 27 June to 3 August 1919, resulting in the deaths of 38 people (23 Black and 15 white) and 537 injured. Due to fires and vandalism between 1,000 and 2,000 Chicago residents, most of them Black, lost their homes. It is considered the worst civil disturbance during the "Red Summer" of 1919 when similar racial riots provoked by white racists broke out in several cities around the country. It was a time when hatred, bigotry, prejudice and violence consumed many innocent people and left a dreadful stain on America.

There is nothing in this photo of music students taking pride in their accomplishments to connect it to those infamous racial conflicts of 1919. But it is important to recognize that this single moment captured on film is part of a larger history of America's struggle with human rights and  civil justice which we are still trying to resolve a century later. 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where school can be fun for some
or work for others.

Two Brass Bands of the North

 

Going off to college is a young person's first adventure.
It's an opportunity to explore a limitless world of ideas,
try unfamiliar things, and make new friends.

and maybe leave your mark on a place.

It leads to sharing experiences with like-minded people,
investigating the great truths of life,
and forming the moral values and ethics 
of your own personality.

Some young men found it in a brass band.

This is our C.Y.M.A. Band;
an organization of Catholic
young men of which I am
President.   Your friend,
Joe Koshiol

To:   Mr. Nick Fichtinger
of Freeport, Minn.

From:    St. Cloud  Minn
2/1 – 1908

Hello Nic.
    I rec'd the
pictures and postals
cards from Bro Val.
The one kind is certainly
a dandy.  I expect to
be home in about a week
& I will pay you for same
Your friend,
J. P. Koshiol

St. Cloud, Minnesota was a good sized city in 1908 with about 9,500 citizens. The city had two business colleges; a German Lutheran school; a Catholic college, now called College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University; and a "State Normal School" or teachers' college, now known as St. Cloud State University. The Catholic Young Men's Association was not listed in the city's 1908 directory but there were several Catholic churches or societies that could have sponsored it. My hunch is that it may have been affiliated with St. John's College which was then only open to men. 

The twenty young men of the C.Y.M.A. band are holding typical brass band instruments with two drummers and maybe a clarinetist in the back row. The group was not included under the "Bands and Orchestras" listing in the St. Cloud directory of 1908. The city could boast of two bands, the Granite City Band and the Ladies Military Band. There were also four orchestras too. 

The postcard's writer, J. P. Koshiol, was Joseph Koshiol who was age 23 in 1908. He was a substitute letter carrier and at the time single. He married in 1910 and was still employed by the U.S. Post Office as a letter carrier. By 1958 he was president of the St. Cloud Credit Union.  

* * *

Already

These are the one's that rode in
my rig up to Pigeon Falls.
All we do at Gale College
is to monkey with the gir...  
                              and pl...   

To:  Mr. Alfred Saell (?)
of Scandinavia, Wis.

c/o Academie
 From: Galesville, Wisconsin

February 24, 1909

Hello Alfred :–  Did
you receive the picture
of the G. C. Band, I
sent two of them up
there.  You ought 
to be down here and
take shorthand with me.
Yours, §Ŵṑ

Six young men stand in the snow outside a house porch. They are not so much a brass band as a brass quintet with conductor. An X marks the writer as the tuba player. His name is a scrawl but I wonder if it might be an example of his shorthand. I can say from experience that playing any brass instrument outdoors in wintertime, especially a large one like a tuba, can be a painful experience. 

Galesville, Wisconsin was a much smaller place than St. Cloud with less than 1,000 residents in 1909. It was named after its founder, George W. Gale (1814–1868), a lawyer, judge, and politician. He was born and educated in Vermont and began his career there before moving to Wisconsin Territory in 1842. In the early 1850s he decided to establish his own private university and purchased around 2,000 acres of land about 15 miles north of La Crosse. He then built the village of Galesville around it. His nonsectarian Gale University opened in 1854 with just 16 students including Gale's son, George Gale Jr. 

Gale suffered from poor health so in 1863 the Methodist Episcopal Church took over the school managing the college until 1871 when the Presbyterian church took it over, changing its name to Gale College in the 1890s. In 1901 the college was purchased by the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, so these six young men were there when it was a Lutheran college. This may have been its most successful period as Trempealeau County, Wisconsin is very proud of its Norwegian immigrant heritage. Unfortunately in 1938 its enrollment became so small that the college was forced to suspend classes for the 1938-39 school year, closing permanently in June 1939. A Catholic group bought the property in 1941 for the purpose of training novitiate brothers and priests, naming the school  Marynook. It continued in operation until 1973 when it was converted into a Catholic retreat. It closed in 1994. 

Did you spot the little photobomber?

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where success in school is measured
by how high and how far.

The Boys' Band of Leamington Spa

The boys' expressions are impassively serious,
without the hint of a smile, grin, or even a smirk.

The way they hold their instruments is less rigid
revealing some individual attitudes
even while their faces declare
grim determination. 

Their stern humorless leader
casts more gloom
as if his heavy baton
is used for more
than just beating musical time.

This band of boys may not be a sad lot
but they are not happy lads.

They are an unknown brass band
from Royal Leamington Spa.

The full view of the band shows 26 boys, all with piston valve brass instruments except for two drummers and a rather sullen boy holding a large triangle. The band's instrumentation is typical for a British brass band in the late 1800s. The boys and their stout bandmaster wear quasi-military style uniforms with brimless pillbox caps, sometimes worn by military cadets. Two boys, the helicon players and the bass drummer, have turned a bit to show off a right sleeve stripe that marks them as having a superior rank. They are arranged on wooden bleachers in front of two-story buildings of stone masonry construction. At a rough guess the youngest is maybe age 8 and the oldest around 15-16. Most look between 12 and 14 years old.  

There is quite a lot of detail in this photograph considering that it is an tiny albumen print on a Carte de Visite mount only 2.5 in (64 mm) × 4 in (100 mm). The CdV was first introduced to Britain in 1860 and it became immensely popular with the public because the photos came in a lighter sepia tone with a true realistic likeness, a major improvement on the dark mirror image of the old daguerreotype. More importantly, though, was that the image was produced from a negative which allowed it to be easily reproduced. Generally the small size of the CdV made it best for portraits and and photos of large groups are less common. Landscapes were rare partly because of the print size and mainly because variable outdoor lighting made getting the correct exposure very challenging for photographers. A longer exposure meant human subjects had time to move which is why many early photos show people without smiles standing stiffly for the camera. The photographer of this boys' band obviously ordered the boys to not move a muscle. And they followed his directions to the letter.

The photographer was Charles R. Baker of 116 The Parade (opposite Regent Hotel) in Royal Leamington. It's known today as just Leamington, a modest city in Warwickshire, England named for the River Leam. But in the late 18th century some entrepreneurs developed the original small village into a large spa resort by promoting the medicinal properties of its local mineral waters. Queen Victoria first visited the spa in 1830 as Princess Victoria. She must have been impressed with the spa's beneficial qualities because after her coronation in 1838 she granted it the "Royal" prefix and it became, forever and ever after, Royal Leamington Spa.

The Parade is a half-mile street running north-south in the center of the old town that was purposefully built for high-end retail shops like Charles R. Baker's photography studio. Across the street was the Regent Hotel where Princess Victoria once stayed. It opened in August 1819 as the Williams Hotel but three weeks later was renamed for the Prince Regent (the future King George IV). Just like in our modern time, celebrity indorsements were important to establish a profitable brand. This high street catered to an elite clientele that paid attention to things like Royal Leamington Spa's heraldic coat of arms pictured on the back of the photograph. The motto "Sola bona quae honesta" means "Those things alone are good which are honourable"

Regent Hotel, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England 2018
Source: Wikipedia

Charles Baker's name first shows up in Royal Leamington's city directory in 1880. Though it's possible he may have started work there earlier, he was not in the business directories of 1876 or 1872. His name is also in the 1881 census where he is listed as a bachelor, age 38, and employed as a Photographic Artist. The years correspond to the era when a Carte de Visite was still popular in Britain while Americans were choosing the larger cabinet card format.  

In the 19th century a photographer's studio served as the hub for their community's social network. But cameras and photographic methods were expensive and complicated. There were very few amateur photographers. Photographs was taken by appointment so in the 1880s a photo of a boys' band was produced for a special occasion. 

I do not know what this band called itself. The bass drum might have had its name, but British bands did not go in for that kind of advertising and anyway the drumhead is hidden. They are too numerous to be a family band and too young to be a military band. And I don't believe any schools in Britain in the 1880s had uniformed bands. But they might be a band from an orphanage or a workhouse. Both types of institutions managed bands or orchestra of their inmates, almost always boys, as a way to support and promote the asylums by giving public concerts. 

I've been unable to find an exact identification, but by combining search terms I did discover there was a connection between a boys' brass band and the photographer Charles R. Baker. 

The link was Sunday school. 

Leamington Gazette and
Warwick & Warwickshire Advertiser
9 August 1884

Beside being a photographer, Mr. Charles R. Baker was also the superintendent of one of two branches of the Leamington Boy's Mission. This church group had been founded in December 1873 by various civic leaders of Leamington who organized to provide "moral welfare of boys who attend no place of worship but spend their Sabbaths in the streets." The promoters secured an assembly hall to use and held "a service every Sunday evening adapted to the tastes and requirements of the boys, who would otherwise be roaming the streets." Further the Boys' Mission attempted "to win their confidence by manifesting sympathy with them, and by visiting them at their homes [and]  introduce them to pure and wholesome literature." 

Every year the Boys' Mission took the boys on an excursion into the countryside. In August 1884 they traveled in eight vehicles (horse-drawn wagons) to Wooten Hall, a grand house and estate about 13 miles west of Leamington. They were accompanied by "the band" which I interpret as being made up of boys from Leamington. Mr. C. R. Baker, "of the Parade, who has charge of the Branch Mission in Portland Street" was also with them and after enjoying various kinds of amusements he finished the outing by taking a photograph of the group. 

 

Leamington Spa Courier
26 November 1881

The Leamington Boys' Mission was an aid organization trying to deal with a social issue that was particularly troublesome in Victoria's Britain. Many cities were increasingly overwhelmed with wayward unsupervised youth who lived in poverty. Their families lacked access to education and the children had few opportunities to get vocational training. These conditions led to more children becoming entangled in crime, alcohol, and violence. Many people in Britain were also waging a battle with the evils of alcohol. Temperance societies urged working men to give up drink and reform their lives for God and family. Groups like the Boys' Mission sought to guide boys toward a better life and avoid the danger of alcoholism by providing religious instruction and moral lessons. Mr. Baker was one of those mentors. 

Periodically the Mission would hire the Leamington Royal Music Hall to present sermons and lectures by noted ecclesiastic personages. Admission was free but the public invited to donate to cover expenses. On occasion there would be choral singing and sometimes band music too. 

Leamington Spa Boys' Mission, c1933
15 George St., Leamington,
Source: OurWarwickshire.org.uk

The main building used by the Boys' Mission was originally a Roman Catholic chapel built in 1820 in a neoclassical style. Within a few years the congregation grew too large for the chapel's small space and the parishioners commissioned a larger house of worship, St Peter Apostle Church, which was consecrated in 1864. At some point after the chapel was acquired by the Boys' Mission in 1873, the frieze was engraved with its name, Leamington Boys Mission. The few newspaper references I found do not mention any particular Christian faith, but I'm fairly certain it was Protestant and not Catholic. What I don't know is whether the Boys' Mission was associated with the established Anglican Church of England or was governed by another denomination. Since this was an era when many Christian sects were evolving into new styles of evangelical worship, it seems likely the Boys' Mission may have had ties to a Baptist, Methodist or Presbyterian church.     

Warwickshire Times
20 May 1882

In May 1882 the Warwickshire Time published a report on the Leamington Boys' Mission annual meeting.  The chairman, Rev. J. Bradley, M.A., "delivered a brief, but appropriate,  address, in the course of which he remarked that in the worst boys there were noble characteristics which were only perverted, and wanted turning into the right way.  In many bad boys there was great courage and determination, and many other excellences which only required to be turned into the right channel, and that was the object of the boys' mission—to try and get things into their right place. The training of boys was a most important work, because upon that depended the welfare of the world.  That was the object of the mission—to train boys aright.  The boys of to-day were forming habits which would cling to them through life, and be their blessing or bane.  Some boys had got into one habit of using bad language and lying, and also of dishonesty.  He would warn them against these bad habits, and exhort them to be honest, upright, and truthful."

Several other reports from this time referred to how street boys in Leamington used foul and ugly language. Most newspapers published regular accounts of criminal court proceedings which listed the names of young boys, and girls too, arrested for minor crimes or public drunkenness. It's unclear how much assistance the Mission provided its boys beyond regular Sunday school lessons. Most seemed to have a home and at least one parent, as they were not described as orphans. It seems very likely there was food but how regular it was offered is not reported. Certainly the Mission had some supervised amusements to entertain the boys. Music, either singing in a choir or playing an instrument in a brass band would have been the obvious choice for attracting young kids. 

I don't know if my photo shows the band of the Royal Leamington Boys' Mission or some other boys' band. The first mention of the Boys' Mission having musical instruments was in a report from August 1879. Other brief reports refer to a "fife and drum band" which were perfect instruments for young kids who have no musical background, but very different from those in a brass band. Maybe this band is a different group, but I think these hard-nosed boys surely ran around on the same streets as those Mission boys. I also think that Charles R. Baker knew how to talk to them and persuade them to go right, even if it was just for a few seconds as he clicked the camera shutter. 

On the 26th of December 1889, Mr. Charles R. Baker, of the Parade, married Miss Margaret Pulbrook. He and his wife were listed in the 1891 census but by the next census of 1901 they were living in Brighton where Charles' occupation was Photographer.

By July 1893, Frederick W. Beilby ("six years with C. R. Baker") was offering "High-class Photographs, Out-door photograph of all descriptions", at Baker's first address, 116, The Parade, Leamington Spa.  

From newspaper reports the Leamington Boys' Mission continued offering young boys Christian teaching through both wars and maybe beyond into the 1950s. That suggests the founders had success in both funding their faith-based enterprise and saving boys from a tragic end. 

However by the 1970s the Boys' Mission was dissolved and the chapel on 15 George Street became a social club which was abandoned by 1990. In 2023 the building is the site of the Leamington Seventh-day Adventist Church. The church has beautifully restored the exterior to historic standards with only a small modification in the frieze changing "Boys" to "Spa".

Birmingham Daily Post
8 March 1915

In March 1915 the Mayor of Leamington, (Councilor W. W. Donald) presided at the annual meeting of the Leamington Boys' Mission. He said "the Mission should be proud of the 121 former members who were serving with the colours; such institutions helped to turn out young fellows who were the backbone of the British race."

Her Majesty Queen Victoria,
only visited Royal Leamington Spa twice.
Once on August 3, 1830
and again on June 16, 1858.

This portrait of the dour-faced Queen

is contemporary with the photo of the boys' band
and was published in 1901 in a history of Royal Leamington Spa.

Jubilee Portrait of Queen Victoria 1887
Source: From Chaos to the Charter:
A Complete History of Royal Leamington Spa

Last summer in June 2023,
my wife and I visited England
just a week after the last celebrations
for the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
While walking past a village school in Kent
I spotted these children's portraits of Her Majesty
hanging in their classroom's windows.

I think she would have been very pleased to see them.
Maybe even smiled. 

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{Notice the Queen's portrait in the Sepia Saturday theme image!}

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where school holidays never end.