Colonel George Sallade Howard (1902-1995) was known for his significant contributions to the Air Force Band Program. Director of the USAF Band program from 1944-1965, Colonel Howard took the USAF Band and Orchestra on ten international tours, promoting music as an international language. He founded several military music groups, including the Singing Sergeants, the Airmen of Note, the USAF Drum and Bugle Corp, the USAF Bagpipe Band, the WAF Band, and the Strolling Strings. In addition to Howard’s military accomplishments, he was a successful music educator, earning multiple degrees in music performance and education. Howard also served as a clinician and spokesperson for bands and band music throughout his life. A past president of the National Bandmasters Association and Chair of the John Phillip Sousa Memorial, Howard worked alongside and was closely acquainted with other prominent band directors and composers of the era, such as Patrick Conway, Ernest Williams, Percy Grainger, and Edwin and Richard Franko Goldman. The Colonel George S. Howard Papers covers the period from 1920 to 1994; the bulk of the materials date from 1935 to 1965. The collection consists of both personal and professional papers including published and unpublished writings, correspondence, addresses, programs, reports, memorabilia, clippings, and articles- related to Howard’s work as a band director of the United States Air Force Band, including his work with Ernest Williams and the Williams School of Music and Summer Camp, with Pat Conway as a student and member of Conway’s professional band, a teacher at Mansfield State Teacher’s College, Penn State, and the Mooseheart School (IL), and as a leading clinician for bands throughout his career.
