William J. Stannard papers
Collection
0079-SCPA
William J. Stannard (1883-1950) was the first person appointed to the position of Leader of the U.S. Army Band. Stannard's entire career was spent as an Army musician, from his first enlistment with the Tenth Band of the Coast Artillery Corps in 1901, through his retirement from the U.S. Army Band in 1935, and his leaving the Army Officers Reserve Corps in 1942. This collection consists of both personal and professional papers including correspondence, scrapbooks and press clippings, programs, press releases, and radio scripts, letters of commendation and service papers, a musical composition, and photographs related to Stannard's career with the U.S. Army band as a musician and a conductor.
The collection is open for research use. Materials from this collection must be used in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room during SCPA’s operating hours. Please contact the curator for an appointment or if you have questions related to digital access of the materials.
Copyright was not transferred to the University of Maryland with the gift of any copyrighted materials. All rights remain with the creators and rights holders. The University of Maryland Libraries is granted permission for the use in scholarly research by the Libraries’ patrons under fair use in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
To inquire about duplication of materials for research or for publication, please contact SCPA’s curator.
1.50 Linear Feet
The William J. Stannard papers cover the period 1904-1950; the bulk of the materials date from 1923-1942. The collection consists of both personal and professional papers including correspondence, scrapbooks and press clippings, programs, press releases, and radio scripts, letters of commendation and service papers, a musical composition, and photographs related to Stannard's career with the U.S. Army band as a musician and a conductor.
William Jennings Stannard (b. August 14, 1883 - d. July 12, 1950), a native of Guilford, Connecticut, was the first person appointed to the position of Leader of the U.S. Army Band. Stannard's entire career was spent as an Army musician, from his first enlistment with the Tenth Band of the Coast Artillery Corps in 1901, through his years on scholarship at the Army Music Training School, the Institute of Musical Arts in New York City, and appointment as Leader of the newly formed Army Band in 1923, to his retirement in 1935. He was a member of the Army Officers Reserve Corps until July 11, 1942. He died in Washington, D.C., survived by his wife Mary Frances Hook Stannard and son William H. Stannard.
Under Stannard's leadership, the Army Band played at the funerals of Presidents Harding and Taft, led the inaugural parades of Presidents Coolidge, Hoover, and Roosevelt, and was the first band to be broadcast over a coast-to-coast network of radio stations while playing at a reception given by President Coolidge for Charles Lindbergh. Stannard conducted the Army Band as the official band of the 1926 Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exposition commemorating the founding of the United States, and in 1929 represented the Pan-American Union at two expositions in Spain, introducing Latin American music to the United States and Europe.
This collection is organized into three series:
Purchased by SCPA in 1995.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library