Ancient History
It is unclear when a group of Tech men first harmonized and called themselves a glee club, but it is accepted that the singers represent the Georgia Institute’s of Technology’s oldest student organization. A Technique article reported in October 9, 1917 that “The Glee Club was first started in 1906 and was composed of some eight or 10 men who would gather every afternoon under the Academic Building and practice.,” the Technique reported in an October 9, 1917, article introducing new students to campus customs and clubs. An Atlanta Constitution article dated June 20, 1907, records the group’s roots a bit differently: “One of the great social organizations that helps to make the thorny path at Tech tread easier is a musical club organized last February under the suggestive title of the Tech Glee Club.”
The oldest college glee club in the Southeast, the storied history of the Glee Club includes travels around the world on military transport planes, being surrounded by screaming girls, and even referring to themselves as “heckuva” engineers” to appease Ed Sullivan. By 1924, the club was so popular that it drew over 200 voices to the fall tryouts, according to the student newspaper. “Seventy-five survived the first cut. This number will later be cut down to 50 as soon as the management decides who are the sheep and who are the goats.” In 1926, the club broadcast on WGST radio three times and staged shows throughout Georgia. A March 19, 1926 review of one tour stop said “Shorty Wiggins’ act, which consists of a sort of Charleston clog, was the hit of the show, he being called back for encores so many times that he was completely exhausted and had to be helped off the stage.”
Glee Club news routinely made the front page of the Technique. On October 14, 1927, the selection of 35 singers made the front page alongside another headline: “Thousands greet Lindbergh on Grant Field.” After World War II, the Glee Club enjoyed one of its most popular and wide-reaching eras as military transports flew the Tech men around the globe. One such world tour resulted in a January 1951 headline in the Atlanta Constitution: “The Tech Glee Club returns from 7,525-mile jaunt.”
In 1953, Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” show attracted an estimated 30 million television viewers. The 50 Glee Club members auditioned for 28 seats on the train that would take them to New York. Three songs were planned – “Ramblin’ Wreck,” “There’s Nothin’ Like a Dame,” and the Alma Mater. Sullivan, a stickler for language on his family-oriented program, insisted went beyond insisting that the men sing that they were “heckuva” engineers,” according to the Technique. “The club sang ‘Dames’ at rehearsal and brought down the house, only to have Sullivan give it the axe.” The Glee Club was invited for a return appearance in 1968.