Georgia Tech Songs Collection
Collection
Identifier: UA318
Abstract
This collection consists of Georgia Tech songs, marches, and cheers, including the
Alma Mater,
Rambling Wreck,
Up With the White and Gold,three renditions of
Yellow Jacket Girl,and other lesser-known music written in honor of Tech.
Dates
- 1900-1953
Creator
General Physical Description note
(one sheet music box)
Restrictions: Access
None.
Restrictions: Use
Some of the songs in the collection remain under copyright and therefore fall under all applicable restrictions on use (including duplication) for copyrighted materials.
Extent
1.3 Linear Feet
Scope and Contents
This collection contains several folders with various versions of
The remaining folders contain two published versions of
Song No. 1 and Song No. 2 make up one side of a two-sided lyric sheet containing traditional cheers and yells for Georgia Tech sports. Also included is an identification card for L.A. Emerson, EE 1906, a list of fraternities, and several chants for game time. Lyman Hall was president, which provides a general time that the sheet could have been created. This artifact of early Tech history enhances this already diverse collection.
Rambling Wreck from Georgia Techand three of
Alma Mater.The versions of
Rambling Wreckinclude several copies of a postcard-sized lyric sheet, a printed version with a cartoon as cover art, and a handwritten piano-vocal manuscript (possibly in Frank Roman's own hand). A copy of the 1911 version of
Rambling Wreck,with a copyright seal, adds to the richness of the collection. A handwritten version of
Alma Materis also included.
The remaining folders contain two published versions of
Up With the White and Gold,lyrics for songs and cheers (Song No. 1 and Song No. 2), single copies of each of the three versions of
Yellow Jacket Girl (Gal),and two different Georgia Tech marches from the early years of the twentieth century.
The Georgia TechMarch and Two-Step by Frances Brownie and Winnifred Huson has a cover picture of a group of Tech students from 1905, to whom the song is dedicated. The earlier of the two marches features pictures of W.E. Klein, J.W. Rucker, Aaron French, and a photo of the Shops, Textile, and Academic Buildings of Tech as cover art.
Song No. 1 and Song No. 2 make up one side of a two-sided lyric sheet containing traditional cheers and yells for Georgia Tech sports. Also included is an identification card for L.A. Emerson, EE 1906, a list of fraternities, and several chants for game time. Lyman Hall was president, which provides a general time that the sheet could have been created. This artifact of early Tech history enhances this already diverse collection.
History of Georgia Tech Songs and Music
By far the most famous of the pieces of music written in honor of Georgia Tech is
Whatever its origins,
The fame of the
In addition to the arrangement of
Iver Granath also composed another Tech song titled
Among the many lesser-known pieces of music written in honor of Georgia Tech are the 1905
In 1925 the Columbia Gramophone Company released a 78 rpm recording of
Rambling Wreck,otherwise known as
Ramblin' Wreckor
Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech.The lyrics to this song first appeared in the 1908 Blueprint, the Georgia Tech yearbook. Billy Walthall, a member of the first four-year graduating class, is credited with the lyrics in some sources; according to a 1954 article in Sports Illustrated, the song was written in about 1893 by a Tech football player on his way to an Auburn game. The phrase "rambling wreck" itself may date from as early as the 1880s, according to an oral history interview by Harold D. Cutter. At first, the phrase may have been used in reference to the students at Georgia Tech, but in modern times it also refers to a Model "T" Ford decked out in the school colors, which makes appearances at home football games.
Whatever its origins,
Rambling Wreck,which is sung to the Scottish tune
Son of a Gambolier,quickly became an established Tech tradition. In 1912 Mike Greenblatt, Georgia Tech's first professional bandleader, made a band arrangement and score of
Rambling Wreck.A few years later Frank "Wop" Roman, who became the Tech band director in 1914, adapted Greenblatt's version, adding several trumpet flourishes. Roman copyrighted the song in 1919. The Edwin H. Morris and Company, which was later acquired by MPL Communications, obtained a copyright to Roman's version of
Rambling Wreckfrom 1931. However, a law firm commissioned by Georgia Tech in 1984 concluded that, while there were copyrighted versions of the song, the version used by the school is not copyrighted.
The fame of the
Rambling Wrecksong spread to such proportions that in 1959 it was sung by Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev at their historic meeting in Moscow. Khrushchev had been introduced to the song through a performance of it on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Rambling Wreck from Georgia Techhas had many other notable moments in its history, including performances in movies such as The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and The High and the Mighty. Claims have been made that commanding officers crossing the English Channel on the morning of D-Day led their men in the song. It has also been reported to be the first school song played in space.
In addition to the arrangement of
Rambling Wreck,Frank Roman is also credited with two other famous Tech songs dating from the 1920s, the
Alma Mater(published in 1923) and
Up with the White and Gold(first published in 1919). Iver Granath, a member of the Class of 1923, collaborated with Frank Roman on the lyrics to
Alma Mater.The lyrics and music to an earlier
Georgia Tech Alma Mater,also by Frank Roman, appeared in the 1915 Blueprint, but it is the 1923 version that is sung most often today.
Iver Granath also composed another Tech song titled
Yellow Jacket Galwhile he was a student. Another song of a similar title by another Tech graduate, Nicholas Chotas (1932, Architecture), was also written in about 1929. A third song titled
My Yellow Jacket Girl,with words credited to Harold Atteridge and music to Jean Schwartz, was performed in the 1913 Broadway musical The Honeymoon Express at the Winter Garden Theatre. The show ran for 156 performances.
Among the many lesser-known pieces of music written in honor of Georgia Tech are the 1905
Georgia Tech March and Two-Stepwritten by Frances Brownie and Winnifred Huson, and the 1900
Georgia Tech Grand Marchby Charles Astin. Numerous other songs and cheers, including many with lyrics denouncing Georgia Tech's rival, the University of Georgia, are traditionally sung at football and basketball games.
In 1925 the Columbia Gramophone Company released a 78 rpm recording of
Ramblin' Wreckwith
Up With the White and Goldas an introduction. One side of the recording contained an instrumental version played by the Georgia Tech Band; a vocal version by the Yellow Jacket Four was recorded on the reverse. With this recording Georgia Tech became one of the first colleges in the South to have its songs commercially recorded. Since then the Georgia Tech Band and Glee Club have made several other recordings.
Arrangement
The music and correspondence are arranged alphabetically by title.
Other Finding Aids
A print copy of this finding aid is available in the Georgia Tech Archives reading room.
Provenance
Collection created from various donations (accessions 1988.0503, 2001.150, 2003.007, 2004.032).
General Physical Description note
(one sheet music box)
General note
This collection was originally processed in 2005 as MS053. The collection was reprocessed as UA318, with additions and updates, in April 2007.
Processing Information
Valerie A. Ellis and Christine de Catanzaro processed these papers in October 2005 (additions and revisions by Sheldon Smith, April 2007).
- Alma maters (Songs).
- Astin, Charles
- Atteridge, Harold Richard
- Brownie, Frances
- Chotas, Daisy
- Chotas, Nick (Nicholas Eli)
- Georgia Institute of Technology. Songs and music
- Gernath, Iver
- Greenblatt, Mike
- Huson, Winnifred
- Popular music -- United States -- 20th century -- Archival resources.
- Roman, Frank
- Schwartz, Jean
- Sheet music.
Creator
- Title
- Inventory of the Georgia Tech Songs Collection, 1900-1953
- Subtitle
- UA318
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Valerie A. Ellis and Christine de Catanzaro
- Date
- Copyright 2005.
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- Finding aid is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Archives and Special Collections, Library, Georgia Institute of Technology Repository
Contact:
Library
Georgia Institute of Technology
266 4th Street, NW
Atlanta 30332-0900 USA
404-894-4586
library.gatech.edu/contact-archives
Library
Georgia Institute of Technology
266 4th Street, NW
Atlanta 30332-0900 USA
404-894-4586
library.gatech.edu/contact-archives