On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away

ON THE BANKS OF THE WABASH, FAR AWAY Emily Sterneman & Lucia Vaughan School of Visual & Performing Arts Visual Communications Design Department of Art & Design College of Liberal Arts Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana Spring 2015

Shakespeare, The Tempest

“The past is prologue.�

In 2016, Indiana will become the 19th state to celebrate a bicentennial.

Over the past years the state has identified fourteen official aspects that make Indiana unique.

They range from the flag, to a song, and a slice of a pie! Our class project has included two more that we hope will be proposed, voted on and become part of what makes Indiana great!

Visual Communications Design Spring 2015 class at Purdue has undertaken the research, writing, and design of 16 books that document and celebrate these historic symbols of Indiana.

Sincerely,

Dennis Y Ichiyama, FAAR Professor Visual Communications Design February 2015

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In 1900 a New York prizefight at Coney Island fell into complete darkness due to a lighting failure. Few people knew where the exits were located, throwing the crowd of 5,000 into a panic. The panic was quieted by the whistle of a song, which nearly everyone in attendance knew. Once the lights were repaired, the fight continued, only after an acknowledgement of the whistler’s efforts and a roar of appreciation from the crowd. The tune that was whistled was none other than the Indiana state song: “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away.”

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Sheet music cover, 1897

“On the Banks of the Wabash,” once one of the most popular songs of the early 20th century, has recently fallen into obscurity. According to a writer from the Chicago Record, the song “reached the most enormous sale of any popular song in the early 1900s. Its author has received already from $30,000 to $50,000 in royalties [in a single day] on his production, which has given the Wabash a place in the world of song like that given the Swanee River by Stephen Foster’s ‘Down the Swanee River.’”

So how then, can a song with such popularity, emotion and history as “On the Banks of the Wabash” be so largely forgotten?

A view of the Wabash River from the shore in Terre Haute, Indiana, outside the location where Paul Dresser’s childhood home stood.

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Paul Dresser, 1897

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In 1897, Paul Dresser wrote “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away.”

According to Clayton Henderson, a historian and music professor at St. Mary’s College of South Bend, the lyrics of the song captured “the “bittersweetness” of place and time, a beloved river, locale and youth.” The music was brilliantly composed with a “repetition and contrast” that makes the tune memorable and fresh to each hearing. Henderson

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accounts the melody and words of “Wabash” “possess an unexplainable spellbinding logic all their own as they flow, like the river itself, unimpeded and inexorably from the verse to the end of the chorus.”

Dresser, born in 1857, started working with Howler, Haviland and Company from 1893 until his death in 1906. During that time he composed many noteworthy songs, however, “Wabash” outdid

them all, becoming Indiana’s state song and the first official Indiana state symbol in 1913.

Despite the fame of his creation, Dresser struggled financially because of the loose copyright laws of the time and the subsequent ease of plagiarism. A year before his death, Dresser went bankrupt along with the publishing company, now Haviland and Dresser Company, causing him to lose his copyright of the song.

Maurice Richmond Music purchased the copyrights to “Wabash” and then allowed Ballard MacDonald and James Hanley to borrow heavily from the song in “Back Home Again in Indiana,” which they published in 1917. “Back Home Again in Indiana” was a more contemporary tune and it would eventually overshadow “On the Banks of the Wabash” in use and popularity.

“On the Banks of the Wabash” plays on a reginaphone at the Vigo County Historical Museum.

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1906 Paul Dresser dies on the 31st of January

1905

Due to poorly managed copyrights, the Haviland and Dresser Company went bankrupt

1925

Harry McDonough was the first major artist to record the song on phonograph

“Wabash” became the best selling song of its time in terms of sheet music sales

Wabash became the state song of Indiana, the state’s first emblem

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1900

“Wabash” sold nearly 1 million copies

Dresser joins Howley, Haviland and Company

Paul Dresser wrote “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away”

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1893

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“Back Home Again in Indiana” is published, which copied more than two famous lines from “Wabash”

“Wabash” falls into obscurity as its prevalence declines due in part to the singing of “Indiana” at the Indianapolis 500

“Wabash” is prominantly featured in a film titled, “My Gal Sal”, which is another song by Dresser

1943

Indiana’s General Assembly requires Indiana school teachers to teach “Wabash” as part of their curriculum

On the song’s centennial anniversary, the Indiana General Assembly urged state institutions to help return it to popularity

“Wabash” serves as the basis for a silent film of the same title, directed by J. Stuart Blackton

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Theodore Drieser, 1917

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Another obstacle Dresser faced was his brother, Theodore Dresier, who claimed to have written the first verse and the chorus lyrics to the song one year after it’s publishing. These claims have been regularly disputed by famous historians, including Max Ehnnann, Terre Haute poet and scholar, who danced around the claim, saying that it was impossible that the song was composed “in a single sitting” as per Theodore’s statement. According to Theodore in a book he wrote about his brother,

titled “My Brother Paul,” the two had sat down together one day, and Theodore scribbled some half-hearted lyrics down which he claims were hardly changed.

The conversation according to Theodore went like so: one Sunday, Theodore visited Paul’s office where Paul was tinkering with a tune on his piano. “What do you suppose would make a good song these days?”

Paul wondered out loud.

“Why don’t you give me an idea for once in a while, sport?” Theodore, somewhat sarcastically,

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responded, “why don’t you write something about a State or a river...

Something that suggests a part of America? People like that. Take Indiana— what’s the matter with it—the Wabash River?

It’s as good as any other river, and you were ‘raised’ beside it.”

Paul enthusiastically responded, “that’s not a bad idea, but how would you go about it? Why don’t you write the words and let me put the music to them? We’ll do it together!”

After some urging,

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Theodore took a piece of paper and jotted a tentative first verse and chorus of “Wabash,” nearly identical to the published lyrics, with only a few minor differences.

Paul suggested he write a second verse with more of a story, but Theodore refused, turning the project over to his brother and saying, “no you put it in. It’s yours. I’m through.”

Some time later, Theodore recounts being awoken on a “warm delicious” night during the spring of 1897 by a quartette strolling by his window.

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“Those were my words! It was Paul’s song! He had another ‘hit!’” Theodore fell into poverty soon after, and six years later in 1903, Paul tried to offer financial assistance, saying “I owe you half of “On the Banks,” and you know it.”

But once again, Dresier turned a cold shoulder on his brother.

However, Theodore later made his claim public with the newspapers in 1917 when the heavily sampled song “Back Home Again in Indiana” was published.

Decline It is said that during the 1940s, the song really disappeared from the hearts and minds of the Hoosiers. When “Indiana” replaced “Wabash” during the opening ceremony of the Indianapolis 500 race, it was falsely designated as the state song to outsiders, and eventually replaced it in the minds of all.

According to Henderson, it is difficult to really say why “Wabash” fell from popularity. With words that entrench the soul with “bittersweet memories of the past in words colored by halcyon

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days of youth,” and music that “speaks directly to the heart and possesses that ineffable magic that makes for a superior song.”

What makes this more puzzling is that in 1942, a biographical film “My Gal Sal” was released on Paul Dresser’s life, featuring the famous state song. His immortality was preserved with his childhood home in Terre Haute, and the National Music Council named Indiana a “Landmark of American Music.”

Additionally, in 1940, Theodore, attempted a national crusade to name April 22 “Paul Dresser Day.” Unfortunately, his proposal was promptly ignored by his hometown.

By this time, Theodore had infuriated the town with his “risqué novels, communist bent, demanding remarks in ‘A Hoosier Holiday,’” as well as perpetuated the unpopular claim that he had written the lyrics to the state song. Though they rebuked Dresier, not Dresser, the result had an effect on both parties.

A view of the Wabash River from the Pedestrian Bridge in Lafayette, Indiana.

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Conclusion

Today, organizations including Henderson, Ehnnann and the Indiana General Assembly are campaigning for the citizens of Indiana to help “On the Banks of the Wabash” retake its position as the popular state song.

Due to their efforts, “Wabash” has not been completely lost. Former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels made this statement about the song’s presence during his term from 2005-2013: “During my eight years as governor I had the chance to hear our state song sung on many occasions, both formal and informal. Throughout my life when travelling, or when worked caused me to live outside of Indiana, the song comes to mind. It is a song that calls you home. Invariably the “On the Banks of the Wabash” is sung in a way that expresses the nostalgia that I suspect most listeners feel upon hearing it. The images of the Wabash River, the crop fields and woodlands, and of course the sycamore, are all ones that Hoosiers know and cherish. The resemblance between our state song and “Back Home Again in Indiana” is frequently noted, given they share common images and proud histories.

As in so much else, our state is fortunate to have two songs that recall to memory why Indiana is a special place.”

—Mitch Daniels In similar sentiment, Henderson believes that “On the Banks of the Wabash” is an important part of Indiana history, and the writings of George Ade, Booth Tarkington and James Whitcomb Riley agree that the song, “helps many people fondly recall a time and place past.” Henderson believes the state song should be sung at mass events in Indiana and public gatherings restoring the song in “the ears, memories and hearts of more Hoosiers and those of many beyond the state.”

Perhaps one day the song will thrive again in the hearts and minds of Hoosiers, as it once did over one hundred years ago.

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Afterword

With these sixteen books we extend our best wishes and a hearty “HAPPY BICENTENNIAL BIRTHDAY” to Indiana!

Lindsay Boivin & Payton Drake, Indiana Poem Erica Lang & Carla Certeza, Indiana Slogan Jacob Ullrich & Brooke Featherston, Indiana Pie Torrey Ratay & Lauren Withers, Indiana Motto Kately McDonough & Michelle Marqueling, Indiana Nickname Whitney Emberton-Jones & Stephanie Morales, Indiana River Chris Costidakis & Zhaoyu Zhang, Indiana Flag Sarah Gladden & Molly Eber, Indiana Stone Brooke Sauer & Jess Emery, Indiana Tree Noelle Itin & Patricia Pitcher, Indiana Rifle Lucia Vaughan & Emily Sterneman, Indiana Song Morgan Enzinger & Alex Santos, Indiana Bird Megan Perry & Danielle Whitis, Indiana Flower Jordyn Knott & Stephen Houston, Indiana Seal Erin Rhody & Brianna Ruiz, Indiana Fruit* Cory Wonderley & Allie Bowes, Indiana Fish*

Bibliography

Dowell, Richard W. “On the Banks of the Wabash”: A Musical Whodunit.” Indiana Magazine of History 66.2 (1970): 95-109. JSTOR. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

Henderson, Clayton W. “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away.” On the Banks of the Wabash: The Life and Music of Paul Dresser.

Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 2003.

N. pag. Print.

Acknowledgements

McCormick, Mike. “Dresser’s Legacy Lingers Century after State Song.” Tribune-Star [Terre Haute] Mar. 1997: n. pag. Print.

We would like to thank the following people for their involvement in this project: Dennis Ichiyama Mitch Daniels Employees of the Vigo County Historical Museum Employees of Purdue Printing Services & BoilerCopyMaker

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Photo Credit: p. 3 & 4 by Emily Sterneman p.5 National Library of Australia p. 7 by Emily Sterneman p. 13 by Emily Sterneman Paper Cougar 80# cover, UV Ultra Digital Writing Translucent Jacket Type Adobe Caslon Pro, Optima Binding Saddle Stitch Printing Purdue Printing Services & Boiler Copymaker

West Lafayette, Indiana Printer Xerox DocuColor 252