Picture this: it’s the summer of 1893 and you are standing in the center of the White City; the air is filled with enticing smells and sounds, and thousands of people from all over the globe stream past you as they walk from one fascinating exhibit to the next. You are at the Chicago World’s Fair.
The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, known as the Columbian Exposition, celebrated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World. During the six months that the fair was open, over 27 million people from 46 countries visited the grounds. It was a chaotic sight!
This is where the Ferris Wheel was introduced, the Pledge of Allegiance was first recited, and where you could taste for the first time a brownie, peanut butter, or Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. If you had been there, you might have walked past Helen Keller or the world-famous Buffalo Bill, heard Scott Joplin playing a piano rag, or seen Antonin Dvorak conduct a gala concert. Or… you might have run into the West Point Band!
Yes indeed, under the command of the Band’s eighth Teacher of Music Arthur Clappé, the West Point Band attended the Chicago World’s Fair, making its debut to the world.
Traveling by train from West Point on August 17, along with the 309-member Corps of Cadets, the band arrived on August 18 at Terminal Station in Jackson Park, Chicago. The cadets, who were in their full-dress uniforms and marching in formation, had a ten-day encampment at the Fair and were likely a major attraction to visitors. Given that the band’s primary duty was to provide music for cadet formations and drills throughout the day, we are not certain if the band performed any public concerts. It is very possible, though, that the band performed at a music stand near the cadet’s encampment.
But what music could you hear at the fair, if not the illustrious bugle calls from the West Point Band?
Like other World’s Fairs, the Chicago World’s Fair attracted the major bands of the day, including:
John Philip Sousa’s Band Second Regiment Band of Chicago Cincinnati Band, under Michael Brand Chicago Band under Adolph Liesegang New York 22nd Regiment Band, or “Gilmore Band” Band of New York City, under Frederick Innes
But if band music wasn’t your thing, you could also catch performances by the 250-voice Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Exposition Orchestra, and even attend the world premiere of Dvorak’s “American” String Quartet No. 12, which had just been completed that summer.
Because the West Point Band was comprised of several European musicians, including quite a few German members, it is very possible that bandmembers visited the Fair’s German Village to hobnob and listen to the many Berlin bands. Or they could have met with our neighbors from the South, the National Mexican Band and the Mexican Cavalry’s Eighth Regiment Band. Either way, the West Pont Band’s experience at the Chicago World’s Fair made lasting impressions and helped place them on the world’s stage. The band would go on to participate at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 under George Essigke’s leadership and the New York World’s Fair in 1964 under the command of William Schempf.
(Thank you to former West Point Band percussionist Warren Howe for sharing his in-depth research on the band’s history, soon to be published!)
