42 IllustrateD volume 25, issue 1
f
BY ALAN KARPICK
AKarpick@GoldandBlack.com
I
t's a song that Purdue fans know
by heart, sung at least a half-doz-
en times at every major Boilermaker
sporting event. Yet, few know the
story of how it came to be.
The Boilermakers' fight song,
copyrighted 101 years ago, has been
the school's rallying cry since around
the times of Woodrow Wilson. As it
turns out, there really isn't a lot of in-
formation about how the song came
together.
"There isn't a lot of backstory to
the creation of 'Hail Purdue,'" said
Bill Griffel, director of Purdue Musi-
cal Organizations. PMO is the orga-
nization that houses the Purdue Glee
Club, of which composer Edward J.
Wotowa was a member back in the
day. "Originally, it was called the
'Purdue War Song' before Purdue
changed the name to 'Hail Purdue'
and adopted it as the school's fight
song."
A story in the Purdue Alumnus
in 1957 gives some insight into the
genesis of the song. In the article,
Wotowa recounts how the song came
into being. Lyricist James Morrison
had written Wotowa in 1912.
In the note, Morrison, a 1915 grad-
uate, told Wotowa that Purdue was in
need of a war song, and he hoped that
Wotowa would set those words to mu-
sic in order that they might be sung
at Chapel. In those days, a war song
was akin to today's modern day fight
song.
In the article, Wotowa said Morri-
son deserved much more credit than
he received for his role in "Hail Pur-
due," calling his partner a "true poet,
not just a rhymemaster."
Wotowa thought the lyrics were
so good that one would just naturally
want to sing them.
"It was not difficult to set them to
music," Wotowa said in The Alum-
nus. "After a few readings, a melody
naturally seemed to evolve."
The rest is history as Wotowa
made an arrangement for piano and
voice for Male Chorus. It was imme-
p r e s e n t s : p u r d u e ' s g r e a t e s t t r a d i t i o n s
'Hail Purdue' Is School's Common Bond
Not a lot known about song's origins
James Morrison's words to "Hail Purdue" are etched in glass in a monument just
outside of Hovde Hall.
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