Oklahoma Musicians

Pottawatomie County

Musical history, people, ensembles, photographs, and source material from the Oklahoma Musicians Library.

The musical history of Pottawatomie County.

Pottawatomie County has a substantial and clearly documented school, community, and civic-band research base centered on Shawnee and Tecumseh. The strongest direct evidence is a Gateway to Oklahoma History photograph identified as the Dunbar High School Marching Band, dated May 16, 1950. The photograph provides verified mid-century African American school-band evidence in Shawnee, and related Gateway images preserve additional Dunbar band views. (high)

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Read the full account, chronology, named ensembles and people, source links, and research notes. These library reports reflect their original research passes; related records below may add later evidence.

Explore the county collection

32 linked records. Connections follow county names and communities documented in the sources; they do not establish a birthplace, exact historical boundary, or continuous residence.

Photographs and visual sources.

Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Granville Harp , Shawnee- football"
[Photograph 2012.201.B0249.0830]Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Granville Harp , Shawnee- football"Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "MANY SIDED. Musician, teacher, linguist, theologian, Dr. Robert O. Laessig, professor of humanities at Oklahoma Baptist university, glances through a music book, one of his many interests."
[Photograph 2012.201.B0348.0664]Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "MANY SIDED. Musician, teacher, linguist, theologian, Dr. Robert O. Laessig, professor of humanities at Oklahoma Baptist university, glances through a music book, one of his many interests."Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Robin Leander Roark, of Elizabethtown, Tenn., will be presented in his senior recital at Oklahoma Baptist Univ. Tuesday. He is a baritone, minoring in piano, and majoring in voice."
[Photograph 2012.201.B1129.0194]Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Robin Leander Roark, of Elizabethtown, Tenn., will be presented in his senior recital at Oklahoma Baptist Univ. Tuesday. He is a baritone, minoring in piano, and majoring in voice."Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Soloist for the Yahnseh band spring concert at Oklahoma Baptist University is Mary Ann Thompson, sophomore piano major from Durant."
[Photograph 2012.201.B1308.0564]Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Soloist for the Yahnseh band spring concert at Oklahoma Baptist University is Mary Ann Thompson, sophomore piano major from Durant."Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph taken for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Mowing a lawn in front of this church, Earlsboro's most outstanding citizen, L. F. Casteel, was stricken with a heart attack and died August 2. Monday, the town was in shock again, over closing of Casteel's band and a reported shortage of $250,000."
[Photograph 2012.201.B0319.0179]Photograph taken for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Mowing a lawn in front of this church, Earlsboro's most outstanding citizen, L. F. Casteel, was stricken with a heart attack and died August 2. Monday, the town was in shock again, over closing of Casteel's band and a reported shortage of $250,000."Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source
Photograph used for a newspaper owned by the Oklahoma Publishing Company. Caption: "Harold J. Wilson adjusts his 1903 model Wurlitzer band organ."
[Photograph 2012.201.B1414.0190]Photograph used for a newspaper owned by the Oklahoma Publishing Company. Caption: "Harold J. Wilson adjusts his 1903 model Wurlitzer band organ."Oklahoma Historical Society / The Gateway to Oklahoma History · Original source