A History of the Rutgers University Glee Club

Foreword 

Introduction 

Chapter 1  

Early History 

1. The Männechor Tradition and the English Catch Clubs 

1. The Glee Club of London 

1. Collegiate Glee Clubs in America 

The Rutgers College Glee Club 

1. Birth of the Rutgers College Glee Club 

1. Composition of “On the Banks of the Old Raritan” (1873) 

Sidebar – Howard Newton Fuller (1854-1931) 

1. 1872-1879 – Fits and Starts 

1. 1880-1895 – Stable Leadership 

1. Loren Bragdon’s Leadership in the 1890s 

Sidebar – Loren Bragdon (1856-1914) 

Sidebar – The Rutgers Songbook (Songs of Rutgers) 

Sidebar – Alma Mater 

Chapter 2 – New Directions 

1. George W. Wilmot (Musical Director/Leader, 1895-1906) 

1. Raymond W. Smith (Leader, 1906-1915) 

1. Collaborative Efforts 

1. Merger 

1. New Leadership 

Chapter 3 

The Modern Era – Rutgers at 150 

1. Howard D. McKinney, ’13 as Director 

1. World War I 

Sidebar – Paul Leroy Robeson, ’19 (1898-1976) 

1. Peacetime Pursuits – The Development of the Musical Clubs 

Sidebar- The Jazz Bandits – Success after Rutgers 

1. Rutgers University 

Chapter 4 - Change in Focus 

1. The Demise of the Mandolin Club and the Rise of The Musical Clubs 

1. Leadership from Within 

1. The Assistant Director – F. Austin Walter, ’32  

1. World War II – An Unwelcome Detour 

Sidebar – Glee Club Discography – From the Vicissitudes of War to European Tours 

1. Post-War 

Sidebar – Lake Minnewaska – An Idyllic Location for Work and Recreation 

Chapter 5 – Prestige and Travel 

1. The 1950s – The University Choir 

Sidebar – Howard Decker McKinney (1889-1980) 

1. The 1960s – International Travel 

Sidebar – Glee Club on the Road – Sixty Years of International Travel 

Sidebar – Glee Club and the Gridiron – Early Involvement and a Continuing Tradition 

Sidebar – Soup Bowl – A Modern Glee Club Tradition – 1967-Present 

1. The 1970s – The Centennial Year (1972) 

1. The 1980s – Walter’s retirement – New Directors and Directions 

Sidebar – Francis Austin “Soup” Walter (1910-2000) 

Sidebar – Frederic Hugh Ford 

Chapter 6 – Into the New Millennium 

Sidebar – Patrick Gardner (b. 1953) 

1. Patrick Gardner – 1993-Present 

1. The New Millennium 

1. The 2010s 

1. 2020 – the Glee Club in the Year of Covid-19 

1. Beyond to the 150th Anniversary Celebration 

Sidebar – Christmas in Carol and Song – A Rutgers Tradition for Over 100 years 

Sidebar – Student Leadership – A Glee Club Hallmark 

Epilogue 

Index