Glee Club

The above is a picture of the 1916 Grants Pass Oregon High School Girls’ Glee Club

Glee Clubs are small singing groups specializing in short songs. They became very popular in America during the late 19th century. Most high schools and colleges had glee clubs dedicated to rich traditions in school spirit.

However rich the tradition of glee clubs in America, their origins come from England. The name Glee Club comes from a glee, a type of English part song. An English part song is secular choral song that is arranged for several vocal parts. Think modern-day a cappella.

The tradition goes back to 1787 when the first “official” glee club held its initial meeting in the Newcastle Coffee house. The singing groups became pretty popular throughout England until the mid-1850s. A hundred years, later proper glee clubs had all but died out in the British Isles, but it remained a strong tradition in American culture.

Grants Pass High School was originally built in 1911 and the first meeting of the Girls’ Glee Club was held in the assembly hall soon after. It was organized under the direction of Miss Cox, the music teacher. Within a short amount of time the glee club had performed in public several times.

Thank you for reading,

Jenny Findsen