Henry Nelson worked as a band director in Lansing, Michigan. Materials in the first folder show that he directed the Morley S. Oates Post 701 Veterans of Foreign Wars band in the 1950s. A 1959 newspaper clipping documents that this band won a pageant title that year. A second clipping, dating from about the same time, reveals that Nelson served as Chairman of try-out music performances (Winners earned guest appearances at a Navy band concert.). A photo, dating from 1959, depicts Nelson shaking hands with Jack Wolfram, who was then President of Olds Motor Works. A 1959 program documents a concert to commemorate Lansing's centennial year (Nelson and the VFW band performed some John Philip Sousa works.). An undated flyer promotes the musical act of one Bob Berube. Berube performed with two other musicians, and one appears to be Henry Nelson. A Boy Scout song book and sheet music of the Michigan State College (now Michigan State University) alma mater round out the folder's contents. The second folder contains three items. First, there is a 1971 program of a Lansing Community College Christmas concert. The program shows that Nelson directed the LCC Community Band at this concert. A 1982 "musician's directory" lists active musicians in the mid-Michigan area. Finally, a 1989 program documents a "VFW Post 701 Band Reunion." It lists Nelson as presenting a "memoriam" and a "reading of names" of deceased band members.
