Thomasson, Reginald Robert, c. 1914-1990.

Native of Arkansas; received his BS (1936) and BA (1940) from the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and Mechanical College of South Carolina (now South Carolina State University), Orangeburg, South Carolina; received his MA from California State University; served as the sole director of bands at the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and Mechanical College of South Carolina, 1936-1960; wrote the words and music to "The Evening Song," adopted in 1939 as the official college song at the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and Mechanical College of South Carolina; son of Robert Finn and Minnie L. Thomasson; married Carmen Sulton, 1945; founded the South Carolina Association of High School Bandmasters, 1950; inducted into the South Carolina State College (now South Carolina State University) Jazz Hall of Fame, 1986.