My Michigan

"My Michigan" is the regional anthem of the U.S. state of Michigan.

My Michigan
Regional anthem of  Michigan
LyricsGiles Kavanagh, 1933
MusicH. O'Reilly Clint, 1933
Adopted1937 (1937)

History

It was written by Giles Kavanagh (lyrics) and H. O'Reilly Clint (music) in 1933. It was published by Clint's own music publishing company at Detroit. It was formally adopted as an official state song by the Michigan Legislature in 1937 by Concurrent Resolution 17.[1]

Despite being an official state anthem, the song is rarely sung and never used on formal state occasions. This may be because doing so would incur liability to pay a royalty. The State did not purchase and/or the authors would not sell the copyright, and neither was the song released into the common (public) domain.

Under the current federal law, the song's copyright will expire at the end of the 70th year following the deaths of its authors, O'Reilly Clint having died in 1961. There are two versions of the sheet music; one is held at the Rare Book Room at the Library of Michigan and the other is housed at the Bentley Historical Museum.[2]

Sources
  1. "History of the Adoption of "My Michigan" as an Official Song of the State of Michigan" (PDF). State of Michigan. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  2. "Michigan State Songs: Michigan's Mystery State Song!". Michigan Dept of Natural Resources. Retrieved January 5, 2012.

Further reading
  • Fuller, George N., ed. (1939). "Giles Kavanagh". Michigan Biography. Michigan: A Centennial History of the State and Its People. vol. 5. Chicago: Lewis Publishing. pp. 47–49.
  • Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Michigan. Regular Session. vol. 1. Lansing, MI: Franklin DeKleine Company. 1937.
  • "Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable John W, Fitzgerald". M. R. Vol. 447. November 10, 1994. p. 5. (reference to "My Michigan" song)
  • McNamara, Daniel I., ed. (1952). "H. O'Reilly Clint". The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. pp. 88–89.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.