A glee club in the United States is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in most schools and was made a tradition to have in American high schools from then on. Glee clubs were named after a form of English

part song A part song, part-song or partsong is a form of choral music that consists of a song to a secular or non-liturgical sacred text, written or arranged for several vocal parts. Part songs are commonly sung by an SATB choir, but sometimes for an all ...

, called a glee, which they typically sang. The first named Glee Club held its initial meeting in the Newcastle Coffee House in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1787. Glee clubs were very popular in Britain from then until the mid-1850s but by then they were gradually being superseded by larger choral societies. But by the mid-20th century, proper ''glee'' clubs were no longer common. Testifying to the importance of glee clubs in 19th Century America, Henry Stone, a Union veteran of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, recalled that "A glee club came down from Chicago, bringing with them the new song, "We'll rally 'round the flag, boys" (

Battle Cry of Freedom The "Battle Cry of Freedom", also known as "Rally 'Round the Flag", is a song written in 1862 by American composer George Frederick Root (1820–1895) during the American Civil War. A patriotic song advocating the causes of Unionism and abol ...

), and it ran through the camp like wildfire. The effect was little short of miraculous. It put as much spirit and cheer into the army as a victory." The term remains in contemporary use, for

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

s established in

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college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

, and high schools, although most American glee clubs are choruses in the standard sense, and rarely perform ''glees''.

Oldest United States collegiate glee clubs

The oldest collegiate glee clubs in the United States are, by year of foundation: * 1858: Harvard Glee Club * 1859: University of Michigan Men's Glee Club * 1861:

Yale Glee Club The Yale Glee Club is a mixed chorus of men and women, consisting of students of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1861, it is the third oldest collegiate chorus in the United States after the Harvard Glee Club, founded in ...

* 1862: Wesleyan University Glee Club * 1862: The University of Pennsylvania Glee Club * 1865: Amherst College Glee Club * 1868:

Cornell University Glee Club The Cornell University Glee Club (CUGC) is the oldest student organization at Cornell University, having been organized shortly after the first students arrived on campus in 1868. The CUGC is a thirty-nine member chorus for tenor and bass voices, ...

* 1869: Union College Men's Glee Club * 1869: Lehigh University Glee Club * 1871: Virginia Glee Club * 1872: Rutgers University Glee Club * 1873:

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Glee Club * 1874: Princeton Glee Club * 1874: Worcester Polytechnic Institute Men's Glee Club * 1875: The Ohio State University Men's Glee Club * 1877: The

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

Glee Club * 1886: The University of Illinois Varsity Men's Glee Club * 1888: Penn State Glee Club * 1890: Pitt Men's Glee Club * 1890: The University of Kansa
Men's Glee Club
* 1892: The Pomona College Men's Glee Club * 1892: Wabash College Glee Club * 1893: University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club * 1893:

Purdue Varsity Glee Club The Purdue Varsity Glee Club is one of the principal vocal groups of Purdue University. It sings a wide variety of music comprising novelty, patriotic, classical, inspirational, jazz, pop, and barbershop genres. The group currently consists of roug ...

* 1893: Texas A&M Singing Cadets *1897: Case Men's Glee Club (Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University) *1901: The University of Oklahoma Men's Glee Club *1902: The Pomona College Women's Glee Club *1903: West Point Glee Club * 1906:

Georgia Tech Glee Club The Georgia Tech Glee Club is an a cappella singing group founded in 1906 at the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is a student-run glee club currently directed by Dr. Jerry Ulrich. The Glee Club sings all original arrangements and composition ...

* 1907: Wheaton College Men's Glee Club,

Miami University Glee Club Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

* 1911: Morehouse College Glee Club * 1915: University of Notre Dame Glee Club (Oldest Glee Club at a Catholic University) *1916: Tiger Glee Club (

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 n ...

) *1927: University of Pittsburgh Women's Choral Ensemble The oldest non-collegiate glee club in the United States is the

Mendelssohn Glee Club The Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York City, founded in 1866, is the oldest surviving independent musical group in the United States after the New York Philharmonic. Their concerts, given in very high-society settings, featured the new (to Americ ...

, founded in 1866.

Oldest United States collegiate glee clubs

See also

References

Further reading