In early 1919, Washington State College music seniors Zella Melcher (1896-1938) and Phyllis “Phil” Sayles (1896-1971) were asked to create a new college fight song as part of a senior class project. Their song, initially simply titled “New Washington State Fight Song,” successfully debuted at an ASSCW meeting on February 20th, 1919.
The collection consists of physical and digital files created or collected as part of a 2019 centennial celebration of The Fight Song. While some of the Phyllis Sayles documents are originals, most of the remaining materials are reproductions gathered from various sources. Some original summary or exhibit documents are included. It includes stories about the two women as collected from their families.
The collection is organized into three basic series, one for Phyllis Sayles, one for Zella Melcher, and one for the fight song in general. Within those, materials are ordered on an alphabetical subject basis.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item Description] WSU Fight Song Papers, 1919-2019
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
The materials in this collection come from three sources. One is material about Zella Melcher, received in February of 2012 from her son Craig McMicken and retained as UPC 2012-01. Another is material about Phyllis Sayles received in December 2018 (with some additional items sent in early 2019) from her granddaughter Gail Davis and retained as UPC 2018-05. Third is research materials collected and created by University Archivist Mark O’English, compiled in May 2019.
While few to no additional materials are expected, it is anticipated that some of the originals may eventually be permanently gifted by the donors.
Digital scans of the Sayles/Davis items were created at MASC from loaned originals as 600 dpi tiffs, printed onto archival paper, and most originals returned to Ms. Davis. Digital scans of the Melcher/McMicken materials were received from that family as digital files; the MASC has never seen the originals. Digital files of the majority of the collection are retained in the MASC’s digital archives. The collection was processed in May 2019 by University Archivist Mark O’English.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.