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College and University Bands

Phillips University Band

Also documented as: Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Arts Band · Phillips Band

EnidPhotographed 1914; institution closed 1998Defunct university band
Documented history with gaps
Master record190

Image status

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This history is presented without substituting an unrelated or unverified photograph.

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Documented overview

An OHS/Gateway image reproduced from the July 1914 Phillips University Bulletin is titled “Band at Phillips University” and directly establishes an institutional band in Enid in 1914. Phillips later created Phillips Band Day in 1932; it became the Tri-State Band Festival in 1933.

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

History

Identity and chronology

An OHS/Gateway image reproduced from the July 1914 Phillips University Bulletin is titled “Band at Phillips University” and directly establishes an institutional band in Enid in 1914. Phillips later created Phillips Band Day in 1932; it became the Tri-State Band Festival in 1933.

Leadership

The 1914 item does not identify the director or members.

Sponsorship and participation

The band belonged to Phillips University or its immediate institutional setting in Enid. The university closed in 1998.

Student ensemble.

Activity

The 1914 photograph establishes the band. Phillips’s later festival sponsorship made the institution an important center for Oklahoma and regional school-band exchange, although that festival history is not proof of the university band’s continuous activity.

Why this band matters

Early private-university band with an exact 1914 archival record; the institution later hosted influential school-band festivals.

Evidence timeline

What the sources establish

  1. Documented evidence

    An OHS/Gateway image reproduced from the July 1914 Phillips University Bulletin is titled “Band at Phillips University” and directly establishes an institutional band in Enid in 1914. Phillips later created Phillips Band Day in 1932; it became the Tri-State Band Festival in 1933.

    Source 1

Current research decision

What the wording does—and does not—claim

Keep the Phillips University Band distinct from visiting school bands at Phillips Band Day/Tri-State and from Milburn Carey’s separate National Guard role.

What remains unknown

The active span, director succession, and band’s own role in the 1930s festival remain unresolved.

Evidence

Sources

The 1914 OHS/Gateway item and Tri-State institutional history were checked on 2026-09-03.

  1. The Gateway to Oklahoma History itemhttps://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc962924/
  2. Tristatemusicfestival source

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