Music and the Great War (Group 5)

Advertisement for the Song Recital by William Denham Tucker.

William Denham Tucker 

On the scrapbook page 53, Laura Quayle pasted a printed advertisement of a performance called the Song Recital by William Denham Tucker.  Tucker was known to be a baritone soloist from New York with an exceptional voice, he was related to Florida State College for Women through who is known to be his aunt, Miss E.H Denham, an Assistance of College Home which to date is equivalent to Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. Miss Denham secured and arranged the visit of her Nephew to Florida State College for Women and was praised for it in The Florida Flambeau, the college’s newspaper.  His life took place around the 1900s.  It is known that he visited Florida State College for Women on at least three occasions to present his skills as a soloist. The last known visit took place on December 18, 1918. 

Music While Fighting The Great War 

William Denham Tucker was recruited as a musician by the United States Army during the Great War and was mustered out around 1918. Just as Denham, there were many musicians who were recruited by the army to bring hope in times of need and also to improve the soldiers' skills such as coordination. Singing became a very important part of what the soldiers experienced at war, in fact, in 1917, a proposal written by Secretary of War Newton D. Baker was approved, it was called Commission on Training Camp Activities (CTCA) and its purpose was to help soldiers use their time in something recreational that could improve their well being and keep their morale high. 

After some time, this program proved its worth, the troops were building camaraderie and were able to use singing as a form of expression to help them get through the war. An article published by The United States World War One Centennial Commission on the importance of singing in WWI states the following: 

Singing was synonymously viewed with the ability to fight well on the battlefield. It played an important role in the American perception and experience of encountering conflict. Thus, as American involvement in the war continued, the War Department expressed the growing urgency in developing camp bands. 1

In the military, there was a Camp Music Division, which was a subcommittee from the CTCA, the goal they had at Camp Music Division was to train the soldiers in music before deployment. Later, a new subcommittee was formed, it was the National Committee on Army and Navy Camp Music. The goal of this new subcommittee was to organize and expand bands, they trained song leaders who eventually had to train soldiers in mass singing events. Men and officers alike enjoyed singing and was a great way for giving soldiers hope and strength through the war. 

The mass singing events mentioned before were known to be the most effective and successful method for lifting the spirits of the soldiers. The events could hold up to 42,000 soldiers singing under the command of one of the song leaders, the leader would sometimes take one or two soloists to join him in the song, this helped the song hold so everyone would start singing. This type of event not only helped the soldiers to keep their heads up but also, helped them coordinate themselves on the battlefield.

Besides the song leaders, there were also independent, traveling entertainment companies, bands, and musicians who visited. The arrangements to receive them were held by welfare organizations that had numerous musical activities to keep the soldiers distracted from the tension of waiting for the next attack. Amongst the organizations, there was the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Y.M.C.A. Also, Veterans of the vaudeville stage were sent from the United States such as Elsie Janis, who was a singer very much appreciated by the soldiers, in fact, she traveled for six months with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF).

The Florida State College for Women had the pleasure and honor of welcoming one of the great voices who we believed sang and fought in the frontlines. Thousands of men kept their faith and hope thanks to singing and thanks to music, giving them a way to cope during and after the war, they became musicians in the trenches.