Half-time History

With the arrival of fall on campus (real fall –with cool temperatures and leaves beginning to change), an Around the D piece on marching bands seemed a good choice.  What quickly became apparent is that we don’t have a good history or timeline of football or pep bands at Davidson.

Gleaning details from the yearbooks, Davidsonians and scrapbooks, the first marching band to participate in half-time shows may have been the college’s ROTC band in the late 1920s or early 1930s.

The quality of their performances prior to the establishment of the music department  must have been questionable.  The editors of the 1934 Quips and Cranks included this description:

The College ROTC Band has changed to such an extent that it is hardly recognized as the same organization. . . . Mr. J. C. Harper, Director of the famous Lenoir High School Band said: “The Davidson band has come to be instead of one of the worst bands in the state to one of the best in the entire South.”

The 1935 annual notes the creation of a new band and its participation in half-time shows:

The most versatile, perhaps, among our musical organizations is the College Band. Its activities range from chapel services to football games and military parades. It has been hailed as one of the best bands in the entire South. . . . A campaign has been inaugurated and is being carried on largely through band members themselves for the purpose of obtaining suitable uniforms to be used at football games and other public performances.

Davidson College Band in 1935 sporting new uniforms

During this time, Mr. Harper did more than comment on Davidson’s bands, his high school band played for Davidson football games. In the fall of 1936, the Davidsonian returned the compliment, describing his students has having unusual ablility:

The Lenoir High School Band appears to have played for Davidson games for several decades. In 1938, the Lenoir Band was one of three bands participating in the Homecoming game.  The other two were the Davidson Band and a  specially organized Alumni Band. In 1959, both the Lenoir High School Band and the ROTC Band performed during half-time at the Homecoming game. (There is no mention of the Davidson Band participating.)

One twist on the Lenoir Band’s offerings is that they sat in the visitors section and played for the visiting teams.  An October 10, 1950 Davidsonian article  “Bands Share in Gridiron Glory,” announced that “the Lenoir high school band, representing the visitors from Washington and Lee University, will also perform at Saturday’s game with Davidson’s band.” The article also noted that the two bands would join together for the pre-game Star-Spangled Banner and that Lenoir would appear in the half-time show “with precision drill formations.”

Not to be outdone, the Davidson band had a few formations of their own:

The half will be concluded by Davidson’s giving a salute to Washington and Lee — playing the Washington and Lee Swing and forming the letters WL. The last half-time maneuver will be a special homecoming salute with the band spelling our Davidson, one letter at a time, while playing “Oh Davidson.”

In September of 1956, the Davidsonian reported on the reformation of several college bands including a concert band scheduled to march in a Charlotte parade and a  separate marching band formed by combining the football and ROTC bands (and composed entirely of sophomores and freshmen).

Yet another band formed in the fall on 1960.  The impetus came from the Athletic Department wanting a band to play at all football games as the ROTC band could not play regularly.  The organization came from Kurtis Hess, a sophomore, who recruited players and spent a summer finding music. This may the be first band to have funding to attend an away game.

By 1968, the pep band is also playing for basketball games  — but we don’t have a clear date on when that practice started.  References to the Pep Band become harder to find during the 1980s though we know it was still around in 1986.

Make a comment or email archives@davidson.edu if you have any pep band memories, can tell us when the band started playing for basketball games, are there years when there was not a Pep Band?  Help us fill in the gaps!