This is so very cool!
"Glory, Glory to Old Georgia" has been an anthem for generations of Bulldogs, but may not be the first song ever written for the University.
The original school song, "The Red and Black March," was a march composed 100 years ago by R.E. Haughey, director of the University's first band.
The only existing copy of the song was found on eBay for $12.50.
Lloyd Winstead, associate director of the University's Wilson Center for Humanities and Arts, was searching for old college songbooks for a dissertation he was working on when he spotted it.
The seller, a woman who owned a music store in North Dakota, while unsure of how she acquired the music said she probably bought it while on a trip to the South.
The only information Winstead has found about the song is in a history of the Redcoat Band written by 1962 band member Andrew Davidson. Davidson wrote that he had interviewed Haughey, who said he didn't have any more copies and all existing copies that he knew of were lost.
"We're fortunate that he did the research that he did for his paper and took the time to get the oral history," Winstead said. "If [Davidson] hadn't done that, we wouldn't know all that we know about the early history of the band or the significance of this particular piece of music."
Winstead sent copies of the music to John Lynch, director of the Redcoat Marching Band.Because the piece was originally composed for the piano, it will have to be re-arranged before the band can perform it.
"We are excited to get together and work on bringing a piece of history back to life," Lynch said. "We have some very talented student arrangers, as well as a professional arranger."
Until that time, Winstead will send a copy of "The Red and Black March" to Martha Thomas, a piano professor in the Hodgson School of Music, so the University can have a sound recording of the piece as it was originally written.
Winstead said he plans to give the piece to the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
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