Hail! Minnesota
Do you know the University of Minnesota’s school song? Great! Then you also know the State Song! It’s the same song with just a couple of words changed.
“Minnesota, Hail to thee, Hail to thee our college dear….”
”Minnesota, Hail to thee, Hail to thee our state so dear….”
You would think that with such an obvious and well-known song it would have been any easy road to ratification, but NO! Nothing “official” is EVER easy.
The first state song legislation was proposed in 1919 - but the Governor vetoed it. He didn’t like that it was grammatically incorrect.
In 1920, two songs were proposed in response to the mayor of Minneapolis offering a reward - but the Legislature (in a rare moment of self-awareness) deferred to the State Music Teachers association.
Four more songs were nominated in the 20s, including one written by a woman named Harriet Stowe Short and with the help of her pet canary, Teddy Roosevelt.
In 1931, 8 state representatives gathered in the state capital rotunda to sing the next potential state song. I’m sure the performance was beautiful with those acoustics, but still, no state song.
In 1945, perhaps giving up hope of ever finding a new song everyone agreed on, they chose an old one instead. “Hail! Minnesota”, was proposed. It had been in use at the school since 1904, so it was familiar to most Minnesotans already.
But Senate Majority leader Charles Orr (a Carleton and Hamline grad) didn’t think it was “the right thing for Minnesota”. Orr also proposed a law making it a misdemeanor to perform songs “in a modern manner”, so we can take his taste in music with a grain of salt. The song failed to get enough support when put to a voice vote.
And then all of a sudden it passed! Finally! A state song.
Sadly, only one of the song's two creators was still alive to see the day. Arthur Upson, the song’s lyricist who had gone on to become a renowned poet, had died in a tragic accident on Lake Bemidji in 1908. Truman Rickard, who wrote the tune, did come back to visit the university in 1946 and hear it performed again.
The version you hear performed by the marching band at the end of every Gopher game was arranged by the much loved Dr. Frank Bencriscutto, the head of the University of Minnesota Band Department from 1960-1993. “Dr. Ben” created several of the traditions we still honor today, including the “swinging gates” during the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and the annual indoor marching band concert.
The Gopher Marching Band sings the school song (and State Song) “Hail! Minnesota”.
