OklahomaBand History
Menu

Community and Municipal Bands

Oklahoma American Band of Arnett

Also documented as: Okla-American Band · Oklahoma American Band

ArnettDocumented September 1915Named town or civic band
Documented history with gaps
Master record100
Newspaper clipping from The Arnett Leader, September 3, 1915, page 1, documenting Oklahoma American Band of Arnett.

Operational evidence

Band at Enid the 15th

Sixteen instrumentalists were scheduled to play September 15 through 17 at Enid's Cherokee Strip anniversary and at the Ellis County Fair. A. E. Williams is identified as instructor.

The Arnett Leader, September 3, 1915, p. 1. Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program, Oklahoma Historical Society, via The Gateway to Oklahoma History.

NEWS-007 · High confidence · 1671 × 3862 JPEG

Underlying newspaper issue published before 1923; public-domain publication. Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program, Oklahoma Historical Society, and Gateway credit retained under current Gateway citation guidance.

Open full-resolution article imageGateway citation guidance

Documented overview

A September 1915 newspaper report identifies a sixteen-instrument Oklahoma American Band of Arnett, led by instructor A. E. Williams, engaged for three days at Enid's Cherokee Strip anniversary and for the Ellis County Fair.; A 1912 concert report supplies additional contemporary performance evidence.

Documented history with gaps. The record supports a public history, with important limitations stated on the page.

History

Identity and chronology

A September 1915 newspaper report identifies a sixteen-instrument Oklahoma American Band of Arnett, led by instructor A. E. Williams, engaged for three days at Enid's Cherokee Strip anniversary and for the Ellis County Fair.; A 1912 concert report supplies additional contemporary performance evidence.

Leadership

A September 1915 newspaper report identifies a sixteen-instrument Oklahoma American Band of Arnett, led by instructor A.

Sponsorship and participation

Oklahoma American Band of Arnett is treated as a community or municipal band because the evidence ties it to Arnett. Municipal ownership, public funding, and organizational continuity are not inferred from a town name alone.

Adult or plausibly adult; exact participation model may remain unverified.

Activity

A September 1915 newspaper report identifies a sixteen-instrument Oklahoma American Band of Arnett, led by instructor A. E. Williams, engaged for three days at Enid's Cherokee Strip anniversary and for the Ellis County Fair.; A 1912 concert report supplies additional contemporary performance evidence.

Why this band matters

Named Oklahoma community or municipal ensemble with durable evidence (Oklahoma American Band of Arnett).

Evidence timeline

What the sources establish

  1. Documented evidence

    A September 1915 newspaper report identifies a sixteen-instrument Oklahoma American Band of Arnett, led by instructor A. E. Williams, engaged for three days at Enid's Cherokee Strip anniversary and for the Ellis County Fair.; A 1912 concert report supplies additional contemporary performance evidence.

    Source 1

Primary-source images

Newspaper evidence

These article images document the named band or event. They are evidence pages, not standalone photographs of the ensemble.

Newspaper clipping from Ellis County Capital, December 20, 1912, page 12, documenting Oklahoma American Band.

Operational evidence

Oklahoma American Band

The Oklahoma American Band gave a documented concert or sponsored performance.

Ellis County Capital, December 20, 1912, p. 12. Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program, Oklahoma Historical Society, via The Gateway to Oklahoma History.

NEWS-047 · High confidence · 2690 × 170 JPEG

Underlying newspaper issue published before 1923; public-domain publication. Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program, Oklahoma Historical Society, and Gateway credit retained under current Gateway citation guidance.

Open full-resolution article imageGateway citation guidance

Current research decision

What the wording does—and does not—claim

The evidence for Oklahoma American Band of Arnett does not establish uninterrupted continuity across every named period, reorganization, alias, or possible successor. The packet therefore treats Documented September 1915 as the supported evidence span rather than a complete institutional chronology.

What remains unknown

For Oklahoma American Band of Arnett: confirm founding and closing dates, directors, membership, sponsorship, performances, and any successor organization from primary sources.

Evidence

Sources

The controlling project citation was reconciled against The Arnett Leader, September 3, 1915, p. 1; W. Scott Barger, We Want a Band!: A History of Community Bands in Oklahoma (book addendum); and the user-supplied newspaper corpus (NEWS-047).

  1. W. Scott Barger, We Want a Band!: A History of Community Bands in OklahomaThe Arnett Leader, September 3, 1915, p. 1; book addendum; user-supplied newspaper corpus: NEWS-047

Help strengthen the record

Have a correction or a better source?

New evidence is checked against the controlling record. Submission does not guarantee publication, and images remain private until ownership, date, permission, and credit are resolved.

Read the correction process