Purdue musical organizations
Stewart was invited to lead the Purdue Women's Glee Club in 1930. He also decided to ask Purdue President Edward C. Elliott about receiving funds to start a men's glee club. Famously, President Elliott stated that Stewart would not receive "one damn penny" for music from the university. Undeterred, Stewart asked President Elliott for permission to use the Purdue Glee Club name to start a singing group on campus. In 1933, President Elliott decided to fund Stewart's efforts and the Purdue Musical Organizations was founded with Stewart as its director. [4]
In 1940, the Purdue Hall of Music was dedicated. [6] Despite vowing to never spend a penny for music at Purdue, President Elliott had secured the funds for a 6,000 seat, state of the art theater. [3] The theater was later named the Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music in 1958. [7] After getting the go-ahead to build the new music hall, Elliott called Stewart, who had been away from campus, and told him to prepare to showcase the university's talent in the new music hall. Bronze busts of both Elliott and Stewart now adorn the back of the music hall. [8]
Stewart initiated the first PMO Christmas Show in 1933. Originally held in Fowler Hall, the show had 200 people in attendance. The Christmas Show continued and grew each year. After 1941, the Christmas Shows were held in the Elliott Hall of Music with Stewart as director. [9] In 1998, the American Bus Association named the PMO Christmas Show among its top 100 events of North America. [10]
In 1942, the Purdue Glee Club was selected to participate in radio entertainer Fred Waring's National Glee Club Competition held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. [11] [12] The competition featured eight schools that had remained after an initial entry of 248 collegiate glee programs. [13] Purdue achieved second place in the competition, and the Purdue Glee Club and Al Stewart received national attention. [14] [15]
Facing a shortage of male singers due to involvement in World War II, Stewart established a female singing group named the Purduettes in 1942. The group featured 13 singers selected for appearance and singing ability. Stewart toured the East Coast, stopping at the Eastman Kodak Company, boosting the Purduettes in popularity. After World War II, the Purduettes continued as a part of the Purdue Musical Organizations and celebrated their 80th anniversary in 2022. [16]
Al Stewart established West Lafayette as an entertainment destination with Victory Varieties. Starting in 1943, for a quarter century, some of the nation's top entertainment acts performed at the Elliott Hall of Music, and the roster included popular music and comedy performers from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. The name "Victory" applied to the war effort and was later applied to Purdue athletic teams. [17] The series ended in 1970 mostly due to the costs associated with booking popular musical acts [18] as well as changing tastes in music. [19] Victory Varieties hosted well known performers such as Louis Armstrong, [20] the Beach Boys, [21] Harry Belafonte, [22] Jack Benny, [23] Victor Borge, [24] Ray Charles, [23] Nat King Cole, [20] Duke Ellington, [25] Bob Hope, [24] B.B. King, [26] Peter, Paul, & Mary, [27] Frank Sinatra, [18] Fred Waring, [28] Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, [29] and Simon and Garfunkle. [30]
Al Stewart and the Purdue Glee Club performed two songs on the Nov 13, 1955 episode of the Ed Sullivan Show. [31]
Stewart was asked to be the master of ceremonies for the 1956 Republican convention. He had met Mamie and President Eisenhower at the previous convention in 1952. Stewart shared duties with actor Wendel Corey and musical performers included Irving Berlin and Nat King Cole. [32] Stewart drew the praise of Vice President Richard Nixon who, addressing Al Stewart, stated: "The Purdue Glee Club certainly performed most ably and we thoroughly enjoyed their singing. The inspiring 'Peace on Earth' in which you directed the combined chorus was a real highlight of the afternoon." [33]
After the 1956 election year, the Purdue Glee Club sang at the second inauguration of President Eisenhower in 1957. The Glee Club singers performed "Mamie" for Mamie Eisenhower as they passed by the president's reviewing stand. [34]
Retirement & legacy
Due to a mandatory retirement rule, Al Stewart retired from the Purdue Musical Organizations on June 30, 1974 after 41 years of service. [8] [35] [36] Stewart was named director-emeritus of the Glee Club by the board of trustees. Stewart was succeeded by Bill Luhman who had been a PMO accompanist for 20 years and an associated director since 1967 under Stewart. [36]
In the summer of 1972, Stewart accompanied 122 singers to Hawaii where they performed at the Honolulu Concert Hall and the "Shriner's Hospitals for Crippled Children." The singers consisted of the Varsity Glee Club, Purduettes, and Purdue Extension Chorus. Up to this time, along with the Hawaiian trip, Purdue singers had performed in over 35 countries. [37]
The Albert P. Stewart Directorship Endowment of $1.5 million was established to help fund the Purdue Varsity Glee Club. [38]
Stewart and the Glee Club participated in a multiple sclerosis (MS) campaign for several years as a community affairs project. In 1964-1965, Stewart served as the chairman of the MS Hope campaign in Indiana. Project Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronaut Major Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom, a 1950 graduate of Purdue, served as honorary chairman. [39]
Stewart was the director of the Tippecanoe County Heritage 75*76 Board which was tasked with celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of Lafayette, Indiana and the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial year. The Heritage 75*76 Board raised funds to construct a rotating sculpture named Ouabache to commemorate the two anniversaries. [40] The sculpture was installed in downtown Lafayette near the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in 1976. The sculpture was later moved in 1995 to a location overlooking the Wabash River. [41]
In 1986, author Joseph L. Bennett published a 182 page book telling Stewart's story and the development of the Purdue Musical Organizations. "Boilermaker Music Makers" was published by the Purdue University Press. [42]
Al Stewart died on Jan 24, 1991 at his home in West Lafayette. He had been in "failing health" for several years. [4] Charlotte Stewart had preceded him in death on July 19, 1984. [43]
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture; the first classes were held on September 16, 1874.
West Lafayette is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, approximately 65 miles (105 km) northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and 113 miles (182 km) southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city, Lafayette. As of the 2020 census, its population was 44,595. Home to Purdue University, it is a college town and the most densely populated city in Indiana.
DePauw University is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was founded to be an ecumenical institution of national stature, "conducted on the most liberal principles, accessible to all religious denominations and designed for the benefit of our citizens in general".
William Foster Hayes III was an American actor and recording artist. His song "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" hit the top of the Billboard charts between March and May 1955.
John Purdue was a wealthy American industrialist in Lafayette, Indiana, and the primary original benefactor of Purdue University.
WBAA and WBAA-FM (101.3 FM) are jointly operated non-commercial educational radio stations licensed to West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, both serving the Lafayette metro area and the Indianapolis area with public radio formats. The stations were founded by Purdue University, but in 2022, 100 years after WBAA's start, ownership was transferred to Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Media, Inc. (MIPM), which also owns WFYI radio and television in Indianapolis. Both stations originate from studios in the Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music on the Purdue campus, with transmitter sites south of Lafayette at the Throckmorton Purdue Agricultural Center.
The Elliott Hall of Music is a theater located on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. With a seating capacity of 6,005, it is one of the largest proscenium theaters in the world, and is 45 seats larger than Radio City Music Hall. The facility is named after Edward C. Elliott (1874–1960), who served as President of Purdue University from 1922 to 1945. The stage of the hall is one of the largest in the country. It is roughly the same size as the stage of the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.
The University of Michigan Men's Glee Club is an all-male glee club at the University of Michigan. With roots tracing back to 1859, it is the second oldest glee club in the United States and is the oldest student organization at the university. The club has won the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod on four separate occasions. Since 2018, the Club's musical director has been Mark Stover, who has continued to expand the Club's repertoire and arranged performances.
The Purdue Varsity Glee Club is one of the principal vocal groups of Purdue University. It sings a wide variety of music comprising novelty, patriotic, classical, inspirational, jazz, pop, and barbershop genres. The group currently consists of roughly 60-70 tenors and basses, includes a live accompanying band, and is one of six ensembles associated with Purdue Musical Organizations. In the fall of 2018, the Purdue Varsity Glee Club celebrated its 125th anniversary.
Albert Berg was an American football player, coach, teacher, and an advocate, writer and editor on issues of concern to the deaf. Berg was rendered deaf as the result of a childhood bout of spinal meningitis. He played football in Washington, D.C. at the school that became known as Gallaudet University. Despite being deaf, he became the first football coach at Purdue University, coaching the team to an 0–1 record in the inaugural 1887 season. Berg also coached football at Franklin College and Butler University. He later served for more than 40 years as a teacher at the Indiana School for the Deaf.
Lee Pelty was an American musical theatre actor, best known for his performances in numerous productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Man of La Mancha, 1776, and more. Because of audience demand, Pelty most frequently appeared to sold-out crowds at the Old Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Chicago.
Stuart Field was a stadium at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States. It was the home field of the Purdue Boilermakers football team from 1892 until 1924 when Ross–Ade Stadium opened. Purdue's baseball team continued to play at Stuart Field until 1939. The Elliott Hall of Music is located at Stuart Field's former site, while the west grand stand of the field was adjacent to the Purdue Armory.
Clinton Larue Hare was an American college football manager, organizer, and coach, and a lawyer and grocer. He served as the head football coach at Butler University for two seasons, in 1887 and 1889, at Purdue University for one season in 1890, and at DePauw University for one season in 1891, compiling a career coaching record of 14–4–1.
Edward Charles Elliott was an American educational researcher and administrator. He was the chancellor of the public university system of Montana from 1916 to 1922 and the president of Purdue University from 1922 to 1945.
The 1889 Purdue football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University as an independent during the 1889 college football season. The team compiled a 2–1 record in the university's second season fielding an intercollegiate football team. Archaeologist and Harvard alumnus, George Andrew Reisner, was the team's coach. The team opened its season on November 16 with a 34–10 victory over DePauw for the first victory in Purdue football history and the first game played in Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue defeated Wabash the following week, 18–4, and concluded its season on November 29 with a 14–0 loss against Butler. J. M. Sholl was the team captain.
The 1918 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1918 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first season under head coach A. G. Scanlon, the Boilermakers compiled a 3–3 record, finished in a tie for first place in the Big Ten Conference with a 1–0 record against conference opponents, and outscored opponents by a total of 87 to 78.
The Purduettes are the primary treble choral ensemble of Purdue University. Formed in 1942, the group typically consists of 50-60 undergraduate collegiate women and performs a variety of jazz, gospel, and swing songs. Similar to the all-male Purdue Varsity Glee Club, the Purduettes are housed within Purdue Musical Organizations, wear matching attire, employ student leadership, and feature smaller groups of members known as Specialites that perform during shows. The group is a featured ensemble annually in the Purdue Christmas Show, and in 2022 the Purduettes celebrated their 80th anniversary. Roughly every 4–5 years the Purduettes tour internationally, most recently to Costa Rica in 2015, and were planning to travel to Italy in spring 2020.
The 1897 DePauw football team was an American football team that represented DePauw University as an independent during the 1897 college football season. In its second season with Arthur Hamrick as coach, the team compiled a 2–6 record, and were outscored by their opponents 70 to 23. DePauw was shut out six times and did not score a single point against a collegiate football team in six contests. In a games against Plainfield Central Academy, a disagreement over a touchdown in the first half led to a forfeit win for DePauw.
The DePauw football program from 1884 to 1899 represented DePauw University in its first decade of college football competition. The team did not take on the nickname "Tigers" until 1918. DePauw did not play any intercollegiate games between 1885 and 1888.
