For more than 150 years, the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band has transformed the lives of thousands of students through music, leadership, service, and friendship. Through These Doors chronicles the remarkable story of the band, from its origins in the nineteenth century to its emergence as one of the nation’s most respected collegiate marching band programs.
Drawing upon photographs, personal recollections, historical records, and alumni memories, the book explores the people, traditions, and defining moments that shaped generations of UMass alumni. It is a story of dedication, excellence, and the enduring bonds forged through shared experiences on rehearsal fields, football sidelines, concert stages, and countless miles traveled together.
At its heart, Through These Doors is about more than a marching band. It is about a community built around a common purpose. It is about students discovering confidence, leadership, discipline, and lifelong friendships. It is about a tradition passed from one generation to the next, carried forward by alumni whose lives were forever changed by their time in the band.
Researched, written, and published (in 2004) by band alumna Kerstin Becker, this book serves as both a historical record and a celebration of the people who built and sustained the Minuteman Marching Band across generations.
Whether you marched in the band, cheered from the stands, or are discovering this story for the first time, Through These Doors offers a unique look at the legacy, spirit, and values that continue to define the Power and Class of New England.
The Minuteman Marching Band, known far and wide as the Power and Class of New England, stands as an active, living symbol of the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. This remarkable institution provides an inspirational and visible reflection of the quality and commitment of our students; its performances reflect their talent developed through endless hard work, and its infectious enthusiasm captures everyone fortunate enough to attend its performances.
On the Amherst campus, we mark the end of summer by the sound of band practice, drumbeats echoing through our buildings, announcing the impending arrival of the new academic year. We show up early for our football games to hear a pre-game concert, we stay glued to our seats during half-time to watch the elaborate routines of the show play out, and we stay after the game to hear the post-game concert. The Minuteman Marching Band speaks to all generations; its exceptional award-winning performances capture the campus commitment to achievement, and its energy speaks to the enthusiasm for this place found among our students, faculty, alumni, and friends.
The Band’s history is long and distinguished. It spans many generations of students, each one placing its mark on the Band’s performances and style. Its history carries with it a tradition of excellence reflected in awards, contests, invitations, and, in truth, a competition to acquire the Band’s participation in an endless series of events on and off campus, in Massachusetts and across the nation.
We, who come new to the Amherst campus, learn quickly about the quality of its faculty and staff, the dedication and commitment of its alumni, the high achievement of its students. We find the historic buildings like Old Chapel, the architectural statements and landmarks like the Fine Arts Center and the W.E.B. Du Bois Library tower, and the science buildings of North Campus, but when we look for a clear, living symbol of our student life and their commitment to this campus, it is the Band that captures our attention.
This history of the Pride and the Power of the Minuteman Marching Band serves as a reminder that the quality and achievements of which we are so justly proud rest on the systematic and continuous dedication of generations of students, faculty, staff, and alumni to this campus. This book is indeed a salute to the past, but it is also a promise for the future.
John V. Lombardi
Chancellor, 2002-2007
Throughout the UMass Band’s storied history, changing budgets and reporting structures have repeatedly threatened its future. Yet time and again, the band has persevered. Chapter Six of Through These Doors explores the pivotal years from 1920 to 1927, when the band’s alumni stepped forward to ensure its survival.
Over the past 27 years, I have had so many proud and extraordinary moments with the Minuteman Marching Band. Many of the most obvious center around performances of the band: our first “Rocky” at UConn’s Stadium, the look on Michael Jendrysik’s face during the opening notes of “Festive Overture” at our first MICCA, the audience blocking Linda Paul’s path at Delaware Stadium because they wanted to hear more, the fireworks at the ’81 Inaugural, the mysterious cloud covering the stadium during “Godspell,” and Harvard Band members’ jaws dropping during the opening of “Festive Overture.”
In addition, who can forget “Phantom!,” Mary Elizabeth’s solo at BOA ’93, Tony Mussari’s Building Power and Class premiere at King’s College, the performance for President Clinton in Springfield, David Scott’s assistance in obtaining a little plane ride for the band to Tennessee, the 2001 Inaugural and BOA performances, the crowd-roaring response from 60,000 in Montreal, and so many, many more.
Of course, there are quite a few non-performance moments as well: “Banned in Boston,” Jeff Poulton and Joel Gittle leading the band past the police line in Harvard Stadium, Newick’s Lobster House, The DC trip from H__L, exploding pumpkins, and swimming in the campus pond.
But some of the most important memories deal with the personal impact that we, that you who are former members, have had on others: the exciting moment when Gerry Grady received his band jacket, the look on Dick O’Brien’s face as he conducted the Minuteman Band, and the induction of Bob Bertram into the UMMB Hall of Fame. I will never forget being on the field, about to receive the Sudler Trophy and speaking with President Bulger, when a small 8th grade trombonist approached me: “Sir, do you know where I belong? Can you help me?” President Bulger chuckled as I found the exact spot, among the 3500 others, where this young lad belonged.
Among my most treasured memories are those times when we brought back John Jenkins and Joe Contino to conduct the Minuteman and Alumni Bands. It was their band—their tradition—that I, along with Thom, Michael, Heidi, Dave and others, had the honor of continuing. And as the years have passed, the importance of this has continued to grow. It meant a great deal to me to get a picture of the three of us, representing the leadership of this band that has now stretched to over 50 years. I began to think that we had to somehow document the work of the band and of those individuals. Sadly, a few years later we lost Joe, and I felt an increasing urgency to somehow tell this history before it was lost forever. Of course, we all have so many dreams and goals that are never realized. But this one has become a reality, because of the remarkable work of one determined individual.
Thank you Kerstin, for your incredible dedication to this project. Thank you for telling the story of so many who have given so much to this great organization. It was a project I always dreamed about and yet, in honesty, never thought could really happen.
Finally, thank you to those who created the story that has been told. Kerstin states that she knew instantly upon her arrival on campus that there was something special about this organization. She was right. For those who have marched in the mud and the rain, who braved the slippery hill on the way to the practice field, who sold the magazines, who carried the freshmen suitcases at Band Camp, who slept on the gym floors, who endured the $3.00 limit at McDonald’s for over a decade, who loaded the truck up and down Chapel’s stairs, who marched in blistering heat and freezing cold, who helped the thousands of Band Day students find their spots, who shared the “cold duck experience” or to those who gave your all for one or two seasons, unable to march that senior show: You are what is special about this band. Even during the most challenging and difficult times, the development of this program has never failed to amaze me. To those who walked “Through These Doors” and sadly for those in recent history who have not, you have built an organization that went far beyond any reasonable expectation. Thank you. May you always “live a life that’s full.”
George N. Parks
Director, 1977-2010