Finding Aid for Duane Wickiser Papers and Recordings, 1920-2008 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Title: Duane Wickiser Papers and Recordings, 1920-2008

ID: 12/9/176

Primary Creator: Wickiser, Duane (1933-2008)

Extent: 0.75 cubic feet

Arrangement: Organized in three series: Series 1, Sound Recordings, 1977-2002; Series 2, Duane Wickiser and Herschel Gow Band Photographs and Records, 1920-ca. 1960; and Series 3 Duane Wickiser Personal Papers, 1950s-2000s.

Date Acquired: 01/17/2023

Subjects: Bands (Music), Jazz, Photographs

Consists of correspondence, photographs, programs, photocopied newspapers, cassette audio tape recordings and published LP recordings documenting the personal and professional music career of Duane Wickiser. Also contains materials from Herschel Dow, Wickiser's uncle, who played with The Vagabonds during the 1930s and 40s. Wickiser's personal papers document career as a professional jazz musician with various music ensembles including the US 4th Army Band, and his work as a K-12 music educator with the Waubonsee Community College and Southern Georgia University. His personal papers document his student career at Eastern Illinois University and Millikin University.

Duane Wickiser was born November 22, 1933, in Mattoon, Ill. He married Lottie Mikulski in 1963. Duane was involved in music his entire life and was a professional musician who started his career playing with "big bands" at the age of 16. He passed away November 3, 2008 at the age of 74.

He was a veteran, serving in the U.S. Army (1957-1959) and was a member of the Fourth Army Band in San Antonio, Texas. He obtained his Bachelor of Art in Music from Eastern Illinois University in 1960 and his Master in Music (M.M.E.) in 1965 from Millikin University with a dissertation, “A Progressive Method on How to Improvise.” He first taughts at Georgetown Junior High School and then Dwight D. Eisenhower High School, before getting a position at Waubonsee Community College. During his time in collegiate music he led groups to winning the International Jazz Intercollegiate Competition in London, England in 1972 and the Notre Dame Jazz Internationale Competition in 1974. He spent the next 31 years in this field, until his retirement in 1992, from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. While teaching and in his retirement Wickiser performed with his saxophone in Jazz ensembles and festivals.

Bands (Music)
Jazz
Photographs

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Source: Jo Anne (Wickiser) Henry

Acquisition Method: Gift.