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Some people use the term “collector” when viewing Dr. Crew’s amazing political sheet music collection; however, he believes the term “hoarder” is probably more accurate. Prior to embarking on a life-long collector’s odyssey, his interests included music, politics, and history. History and politics were reflected in his choice of government for his college major and history as his minor, while music was his spare time personal passion (trombone in high school band and banjo, guitar, and accordion in his spare time).
His sheet music collecting started in 1972 when he found himself wandering around an antique shop in Tallahassee, Florida. He noticed several campaign buttons for the 1900 campaign of McKinley and Roosevelt. The store owner indicated that he had a trunk full of items in the back of the store: There were scores of old campaign souvenirs including buttons, ribbons, banners, and a large stack of sheet music. Dr. Crew bought the entire lot. At home he began sorting through the items; and the sheet music stuck out as particularly interesting. He remembers a piece of Teddy Roosevelt sheet music, awash in bright colors, with his portrait almost jumping off the page, and he concluded that sheet music was a wonderful way to combine his love of politics, history, and music into one inexpensive collectible.
Today, Crew’s collection of political-related items exceeds 13,000 pieces, including the nation’s largest collections of music related to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and with over 450 pieces, Theodore Roosevelt. The collection led Dr. Crew to author four published bibliographies on political sheet music and formed the basis of his PhD in music history from the University of Sunderland (UK).
Read Dr. Crew’s essay on sheet music as public discourse here.
See below to view items from the collection.
“Teddy Roosevelt” records highlights of Theodore Roosevelt’s life beginning with the Battle of San Juan Hill and ending with the African safari.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1913
“Charge of the Rough Riders” is an instrumental march set for piano.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1898
Sheet music for “Teddy’s Bears” written and published by William R. Haskins. The front cover shows nine teddy bears, four of them marching, in sepia. The next five pages contain the sheet music, with additional songs”Twilight Chimes” and “A Sunshine Shower.” Teddy bear music became popular in the early 1900s as a result of an incident and resulting cartoon involving President Roosevelt and a hunting trip to Mississippi. While most Teddy bear music is generic and bears no direct relationship to Roosevelt, several pieces do reference him in the lyrics, the title, or in the cover illustration. This piece infers a relationship with Roosevelt by using the possessive tense in the title, “Teddy’s Bears.”
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1907
Sheet music for “The Treaty of Peace,” a song celebrating President Roosevelt’s participation in the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War. The front cover shows a blue ink print of a fan, lantern, flowers, branch, and a Japanese scroll with writing.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1905
Sheet music for “Voice of the West,” which celebrates President Roosevelt sending the Great White Fleet on its circumnavigation of the globe. The cover features an illustration of a battleship and the likeliness of President Roosevelt and Secretary of War William H. Taft.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1908
Sheet music for “He’s Good Enough for Me,” a campaign song for President Roosevelt’s 1904 presidential campaign. The front cover features an illustration by Homer Davenport of Uncle Sam with his hand on Roosevelt’s shoulder.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1904
Sheet music for “The Brave Rough Riders,” which celebrates Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. The front cover shows a color print of Roosevelt leading a cavalry charge with a Spanish fort and the ocean in the background.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1898
Sheet music for “Our country, a patriotic song dedicated to President Roosevelt. The cover features a photograph of Roosevelt flanked by two American flags.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1908
Sheet music for “A Hundred Million Strong,” a patriotic war song dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt. The back cover shows a price list for other pieces of sheet music.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1918
Sheet music for “Roosevelt March,” a campaign song for President Roosevelt’s 1904 presidential campaign. The front cover displays a blue tinted photograph of Roosevelt surrounded by a red, decorative frame.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1904
Sheet music for “Teddy Girl,” a song sung by Helen Hale in The Yankee Tourist. The lyrics state that this “Teddy girl loves her president.” The front cover is yellow with a black and white photograph of Hale.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1907
Sheet music for “Alice Roosevelt March.” The cover displays a black and white photograph of Roosevelt with a parrot.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1905
Sheet music for “Does it Pay to Raise Your Boy to be a Solider?,” a patriotic, military readiness song published before the United States entered the First World War. The story of the song is told through “tearjerker lyrics” of a son lost to war and a grieving mother. The cover features a facsimile of a letter from Theodore Roosevelt commenting on the poem that comprises the song’s lyrics.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1916
Sheet Music for “Do Your Bit, Help Send a Kit,” a WWI patriotic song imploring the public to help ensure that the troops have tobacco products by buying a “kit” to be sent to France. The song is billed as the “Soldier’s and Sailor’s Official Tobacco Song.” In small print at the bottom of the cover there is quote from Theodore Roosevelt. “I wish you all possible success in your admirable effort to get tobacco to our boys in France.” Cover features illustrations of a solider and sailor using tobacco. The back cover contains instructions on how to buy a kit.
Sheet music for “The March of the Teddy Bears,” an instrumental march. The cover features three teddy bears marching with rifles over their shoulder. A statement at the top of the cover indicates that the piece was written in hopes of stirring public sentiment for President Roosevelt to run for a third term in 1908.
Sheet music for “George, I Can’t Say No,” a song about a man and woman getting married against the girl’s mother’s wishes. Alice Roosevelt Longworth is mentioned in a verse as, according to the lyrics, she declined marriage proposals from Nicholas Longworth twelve times.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1906
Sheet music for “Our Presidents on Parade,” which mentions all presidents from George Washington to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The songs was written as a benefit for the Boy and Girl Scout movement. It is dedicated to the Boy and Girl Scout movements and Rosa Webb, the first Girl Scout leader in Michigan. The cover features an eagle and shield design in red, white, and blue.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1935
Sheet music for “Strenuous times,” an instrumental march. The cover depicts an armed Uncle Sam rounding up various commercial and industrial trusts such as oil, cattle, and railroads. The trusts are represented as large men in top hats.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1906
Sheet music for “The Re-Born American Spirit,” which celebrates the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the new “American Spirit” which resulted. The cover features a large illustration of Roosevelt and smaller illustrations of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
1933
Sheet music for an easy piano edition of “America the Beautiful.” The cover features a large photograph of Mount Rushomore and several scenic photographs.
Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection
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