1975 WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK


on the SS. ALABAMA under the leadership of Prof. Julius E. Olson,
chairman of the Wisconsin delegation.
  The full lyrics by J. S. Hubbard and Charles D. Rosa were re-
printed in the Wisconsin Alumni Magazine of November 1927:


On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Grand old Badger State,
We, thy loyal sons and daughters,
Hail thee, good and great.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Champion of the right;
"Forward," our motto:
We will win the fight.


On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Dost thou hear that call,
Marsh'ling thee to noble duty
In the fight for all ?
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Battle for the right;
With thy standard flying,
God will give thee might.


  For many decades, Wisconsin did not have an "official," legally
enacted, state song. "On, Wisconsin!" was commonly regarded as
"the". Wisconsin song, but the lyrics used were those of the gridiron
and there was nothing official or solemn about them.
  In 1959 Assemblyman Harold W. Clemens discovered that by then
Wisconsin had become one of only 10 states without an official state
song. Assemblyman Clemens had sung "On, Wisconsin!" for many
years, thinking that it was the state song; as the vocalist of the
Oconomowoc American Legion band, he had rendered the song at
major national events on several occasions.
  Assemblyman Clemens proposed to the Wisconsin Legislature to
give the song "On, Wisconsin!" the official recognition it deserved.
This proposal was incorporated into Bill No. 116, A., of 1959. How-
ever, when it was discovered that the song had many different texts,
Assemblyman Clemens introduced Substitute Amendment 1, A. for his
earlier proposal, incorporating the text of the first verse, which was
to become the state anthem of Wisconsin.
  The bill became Chapter 170 of the 1959 Wisconsin Session Laws,
to be incorporated into the statutes as Section 1.10. The text of the
official version of "On, Wisconsin!", as enacted in 1959, is given
with
the music.


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