Holdings Alumni Association Alumni Cassie Helgesen McCabe Pape... Finding Aid By Michael Carl Massaro, Carol Berthold
Title: Cassie Helgesen McCabe Papers and Marching Illini Footnotes, 1983-1987, 2018
ID: 26/20/223
Primary Creator: Cassie Helgesen McCabe (1964-2020)
Extent: 0.25 cubic feet
Arrangement: The materials are arranged alphabetically by folder title. Marching Illini Footnotes are organized by volume number and issue number. Layouts are in no particular order. Personal papers, most of which have no date, have the most recent first.
Date Acquired: 08/20/2018
Subjects: Alumni, Band, Football, Band Musicians, Marching bands, Marching Illini, Publications
Formats/Genres: Papers
Languages: English
Consists of the layouts and final drafts of the Marching Illini student publication Footnotes (1983-1987), documenting life in the band through interviews, articles, cartoons and jokes about Marching Illini members and staff. The collection contains some original layouts and copies of the publications. Issues from volumes 10, 12 and 13 are included, with some issues missing from each volume. Also included are layouts used to copy some of the issues, as well as copies of pages. A small number of personal papers related to the Marching Illini Footnotes are also included.
Cassie Helgesen McCabe (1964-2020) was born on Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoule, Illinois. She attended Central High School in Champaign, graduating in 1983. She began attending the University of Illinois, serving as a drum major for the Marching Illini between 1983 and 1987. She led the band during the 1984 Rose Bowl and the 1985 Peach Bowl games. Notably, she was the first freshman to hold this position for four years, following in the footsteps of Debbie Ann Soumar who became the band's first woman drum major in 1977. Cassie obtained her bachelor's in Human Resources and Family Studies with a concentration on child development and psychology in 1987, and completed her MBA with a concentration in business administration and organizational behavior in 1991.
During her time with the University Band she also formed the first hockey band and the first volleyball band, which consisted of a saxophone, baritone, and bass drum. Between 1983 and 1987 she also played saxophone in the basketball band, and conducted the ensemble twice during basket games when Gary Smith was unavailable. During one of these performances Cassie received a personal hand shake and hug from Mary Henson after a game with the University of Kentucky. In addition Cassie served as one of the editors for the Marching Illini Footnotes, a weekly student newsletter for the band's members. The other members of the Footnotes editorial team at that time were Terry Dwyer (tenor saxophone), John Henderson (baritone), and Rich Hosek (flugelhorn) who was the producer of the Footnotes movies and later became a writer for many episodes of the 1990-1996 sitcom, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
After graduating, she became the director of two childcare centers in Central Illinois. She later moved to Franklin, Tennessee, serving as the director of KinderCare in the Nashville District. Helgesen McCabe died in Franklin, TN in 2020.
Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Acquisition Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Marching Illini, Drum Major
Acquisition Method: This collection was given to us by Cassie Helgesen McCabe to the Sousa Archives August 20, 2018.
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