Historic Treasure of the Week - September 20, 1992
By Alice Mahalek
Vigo County Historical Society
Historic Treasure of the Week - September 20, 1992
By Alice Mahalek
Vigo County Historical Society
Porter penned "Queen of Terre Haute"
Hoagy Carmichael is justly celebrated by Hoosiers because of his considerable talents and Bloomington background. They are moved by the nostalgic glow he bestows on his native area in such classics as "Can’t Get Indiana Off My Mind," notwithstanding the fact that his mind was similarly taken with an aching warmth for Georgia.
Carmichael is, of course, only one of the numerous songsters who have raised their voices in praise of the state and eulogized towns such as Kokomo and Gary. Many, if not most, of you are aware that Cole Porter, the Pride of Peru, paid tribute to New York, Paris, Vienna and other great metropolises. However, very few of its citizens realize that our own home town was included in his review of the world’s cities of distinction.
In 1929, Broadway saw the debut of "Fifty Million Frenchmen" which, in addition to such memorable Porter tunes as "You Do Something to Me" and "Find Me a Primitive Man," offered the happily forgettable "The Queen of Terre Haute." The song was not exactly a celebration of the town; in fact, it was a lament by a bimbo of broad ambitions occasioned by the mischance of her call to glory in an unsophisticated hamlet. Sorrowfully she sang:
My mother and father once went to a lot of bother
To make me the happiest of girls.
To better my station, they got me an education
Not to mention a string of pearls.
But in spite of my backing,
I still feel there’s something lacking
And that fate has rather let me down.
For instead of being famous,
I’m an unknown ignoramus
From a small midwestern town.
Why couldn’t I have been Salome
Or Mary Pickford or Joan or Arc?
If I were El’nor Glynn or even Anne Boleyn
The future would look half so dark.
Why couldn’t I be Whistler’s Mother
Or any other woman of note?
Why did the Gods decree that I should only be
The Queen of Terre Haute?
To compensate the blase Porter’s unwarranted negative view, the museum also maintains in its files a selection of works that express a more lively appreciation of the city’s charms. Among these tributes are such gems as "Terre Haute is the Town for Me" by G.C. Coleman; "She was Born in Indiana Where the Wabash River Flows" by John Daniels; "The Garfield High School Waltz" by Mrs. Oliver Hess; "I Guess It’s Time I Wrote to the Folks in Terre Haute;" "The Terre Haute Free Street Fair March and Two Step;" and "I’m Gonna Float My Boat Right Back to Terre Haute" by Malcolm Scott. The Scott song was the winner of a contest sponsored by the Terre Haute Radio Club and received a prize of $100 donated by Louis Silberman.
The melodies of the world famous Paul Dresser are included in the collection, of course, as well as those of lesser known local contributors such as Leo Deming, Manford Collins and Sgt. Ret Crosley.
While it is true that the sentiments of most of the songs belong to a simpler age, we have no doubt that the affection they convey for the town still lives in the hearts and minds of its more worldly and sophisticated people.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.