Educators in Search of an Anthem: Standardizing “The Star-Spangled Banner” During the First World War

Abstract

AbstractIn the spring of 1917 several of the most prominent musicians in the United States, including the bandleader John Philip Sousa, the orchestral conductor Walter Damrosch, and the scholar Oscar Sonneck, joined together in a fruitless effort to establish a standardized version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Most histories of the song note this effort but fail to recognize that the impetus for it came from the music division of the National Education Association and reflected a Progressive Era faith in the efficiencies of business, which could be manifest through the mass singing of schoolchildren. This paper examines the standardization of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in light of first world war political concerns, as well as broader cultural trends. It also explains the reasons for the effort's failure and shows how the period around the first world war set up many of the struggles that inform the national anthem even today.