In the Arts Collection of the
Mr. Osterman related how
Charles Baetz’s stern discipline helped the Great Western Band to build up an
enviable reputation. The band performed from 1867 to the early
1890s, and had several different directors. The Great Western Band is pictured
below in the 1870s.
While Mr. Osterman’s history provides us with details about
relatively well known bands, such as Ackley’s Band, the Cedar Point Orchestra,
and Scouton’s Concert Band, he also covered little known bands, such as the
Sandusky Light Guard Band, the Big Five Band, and the Curtiss Orchestra. Below
is a list of members of the Harlemetts Orchestra, an orchestra made up of
African Americans from Sandusky .
In the back portion of Mr. Osterman’s history binder are
letters and anecdotes from local musicians, as well as notes from Dr. Norbert
A. Lange with further details about Sandusky ’s
rich musical history.
Alex H. Osterman died on November 10, 1945, at the age of
69. He had been a restaurant operator in Sandusky
from 1896 to 1901, and he served as the street superintendent of Sandusky from 1928 to
1933. In his later years, he was employed at the Erie China Company on Cleveland Road . Mr.
Osterman’s little black binder helps us know more about music in a time gone by
in Sandusky . An
article in the Sandusky Star Journal
of April 7, 1934, Alex H. Osterman stated that his history of bands in Sandusky was written “to
perpetuate the memory of those men who were always ready and willing to give
their time so that their music might be means of bringing joy and pleasure to
tired bodies and saddened hearts.”
2 comments:
Great article. When I expanded the view it looks as if there were at least three African Americans in the GReat Western Band too.
Did you know that musicians Alexander Osterman and George Godfrey are brothers-in-law? Yes, they both married Schields sisters.
https://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=Godfrey
Post a Comment