127:, Emrick was born into a musical family; his father directed the citizens' band, and several other members of his family had been band directors. While a student at Rochester High School, the younger Emrick directed a number of ensembles that played at dances and dramatic performances. He primarily played the clarinet, but also played the violin and cornet, among other instruments.
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Due to his experience as a director, Emrick was elected as the band's president and director in 1905, as only a sophomore. Two years later, as a senior, Emrick instituted one of the first of a long list of innovations. At a 1907 game, the band formed a large block "P" as part of its pregame show. It
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Emrick retired to his hometown of
Rochester in 1956. He suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage in July 1965 and died at Woodlawn Hospital in Rochester on July 11. He had married his second wife, Adeline, in 1946. He had married his first wife, Martha, in 1907 while still a student at Purdue; she had
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major and immediately joined the school's band. By the time he arrived in West
Lafayette, the band had existed for 18 years but had only recently come into its own. The band members had to furnish their own uniforms, instruments, and music. When Emrick arrived, he was one of the few members with a
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Emrick retired as a professor in 1946 but continued as band director until 1954. More than 6,000 students marched under his baton over the years. By the time he retired for good, he had spent the first half-century of his adult life in West
Lafayette as a student, professor, and band director.
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Emrick was hired as the band's first full-time director after graduating in 1908 and was also appointed a professor of electrical engineering. Under his watch, in 1919 the band became the first to carry the flags of the other schools in the
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was the first time a marching band had broken out of military ranks to form letters on the field. The "Block P" has been part of every AAMB pregame show since. Years later, in a 1953 interview with the
Lafayette
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musical background. The directors were elected by the bandsmen either from among themselves or from the faculty. Despite these handicaps, the band had grown to 50 members by 1902, and had become a fixture at
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read one of them and was impressed enough that when Sousa's band came to Purdue for a performance, Sousa handed his baton to Emrick.
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even though it primarily served to play at drills and ceremonies for the
Student Army Training Corps (forerunner of the Purdue
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Norberg, John (2015). "Emrick, Paul Spotts". In Gugin, Linda C.; St. Clair, James E. (eds.).
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107:(March 30, 1884 – July 28, 1965) was the first full-time director of the
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Rehrig, William H. (1991). "Emrick, Paul S.". In
Bierley, Paul E. (ed.).
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The
Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music
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in 1905, and then served as full-time director from 1908 to 1954.
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His most visible legacy, however, came in 1921. He asked the
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Martha Emrick (m. 1907; died 1942); Adeline Emrik (m. 1946)
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Indiana's 200: The People Who Shaped the
Hoosier State
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Emrick was also a noted composer of marches. In 1925,
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80:Band Director; Professor of Electrical Engineering
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301:"Purdue's Big Bass Drum marks 80th birthday"
131:Director of the All-American Marching Band
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431:20th-century American conductors (music)
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426:20th-century American male musicians
135:Emrick came to Purdue in 1904 as an
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264:of All-American Band history page
109:Purdue All-American Marching Band
441:People from Rochester, Indiana
321:"Huge Bass Drum Is Built Here"
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327:. August 6, 1921. p. 4.
242:The Rochester News-Sentinel
179:Leedy Manufacturing Company
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348:Indiana Historical Society
421:Purdue University faculty
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451:Purdue University alumni
119:Early life and education
446:Musicians from Indiana
240:"Paul Spotts Emrick".
137:electrical engineering
61:Rochester, Indiana, US
325:The Indianapolis Star
155:Journal & Courier
350:. pp. 111–113.
288:AAMB at the Indy 500
208:Retirement and death
191:Purdue Big Bass Drum
16:American bandleader
309:. pp. E1, E6.
185:to create a giant
164:Big Ten Conference
125:Rochester, Indiana
105:Paul Spotts Emrick
47:Rochester, Indiana
25:Paul Spotts Emrick
384:978-0-918048-08-0
357:978-0-8719-5393-3
198:John Philip Sousa
113:Purdue University
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89:Al G. Wright
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416:1965 deaths
411:1884 births
405:Categories
217:References
172:fight song
366:952246866
187:bass drum
95:Spouse(s)
85:Successor
393:24606813
262:Archive
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389:OCLC
379:ISBN
362:OCLC
352:ISBN
146:ROTC
55:Died
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