History
| Phi Beta Mu was established as a result of
the respect and appreciation which our Founder,
Colonel Earl D. Irons, had for his professional
associates. Col. Irons was Bandmaster and
Chairman of Fine Arts at the University of Texas
at Arlington, then known as North Texas
Agricultural College. He envisioned an
organization that would honor outstanding band
directors whose dedication and devotion to their
profession were paramount, but whose admirable
traits and services were not necessarily known
nationally. Col. Irons sought to honor
deserving individuals on a state level similar to
the manner in which he and Honorary Life
President, D. O. Wiley, had been honored by the
American Bandmasters Association in 1936. During the summer of 1937, Col. Irons was performing as a guest conductor and cornet teacher at the Texas Tech Summer Band Camp. During this time, he had discussions about his plan for this special organization with Dr. D. O. Wiley, Director of the Tech Band Camp. These two men decided that the time was right to start such and organization, and “Prof” Wiley assembled a group of prominent band directors at the camp for a meeting with Col. Irons. Among those Texas directors present at this early meeting were: Carl Cochran of Marlin, Russell Shrader of Sweetwater, George Rucker of Bowie, Sanford Eskridge of Wink, H. A. Anderson of Lubbock, and Clyde Rowe, who later taught in Borger. Cochran, Shrader, and Rucker were especially interested in creating the framework for the organization. A number of meetings were held in the University’s Textile Building during that summer. The final decision to organize was reached during a watermelon feast in Professor Wiley’s backyard. At this time it was decided that the organization should b e structured to be a national bandmaster’s fraternity with the details to be worked out during the ensuing year. Col. Irons received advice and help from Dr. Cothburn O’Neal in working out details of the organizational structure. Dr. O’Neal was a former student of Irons’ in 1925 and was on the faculty of North Texas Agricultural College, serving as an English professor. Together they selected Phi Beta Mu, with the subtitle of National Bandmaster’s Fraternity, as the name of the organization. Phi Beta Mu was interpreted to mean, “Life, Love, and Music.” The colors chosen to represent the Fraternity were blue and white. The original member recognition
pin was the five lines and spaces of the staff in
a vertical position, closed at each end, with
Greek letters for Phi Beta Mu inset across the
center, thus: The first official meeting was held at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas, in February 1939. The first initiates were Weldon Covington, Jack Mahan, R. C. Davidson, Lyle Skinner, Vergne Adams, Holmes McNeeley, and Alfred M. Riley. Dr. Cothburn O’Neal was the first individual to be made an Honorary Member in recognition of his work with Col. Irons in setting up the Fraternity Constitution and Oath. Dr. Milburn Carey was initiated in 1942 as a member of Alpha Chapter. In 1944, Carey chartered Beta Chapter in Enid, Oklahoma; and in 1946, Harold L. Walters invited Dr. Carey to charter Gamma Chapter in Indiana. Mr. Walters was an Honorary Member of Beta Chapter at that time. During World War II, while most of the members were serving in the armed forces, the credentials and minutes of early meetings were lost. When the Fraternity was reactivated, the members recognition pin was changed to the bass drum with the baton and the Greek letters for Phi Beta Mu crossed over the drum. With the existence of three chapters for several years (Alpha, Texas; Beta, Oklahoma; and Gamma, Indiana), the need became apparent for a fully operative national structure. In 1954, L. H. Buckner, Immediate Past-President of Alpha Chapter; Alfred Riley, President of Alpha Chapter; and Jack H. Mahan, Secretary-Treasurer of Alpha Chapter, met in Dallas to create the national organization. The meeting took place in Mr. Mahan’s home. It was decided that there should be a President, Vice-President, and Executive Secretary, with six national board members. The standard recognition pin designated for each national officer was: President - regular pin with 10 red
stones It was decided that the interim national officers would be Alfred M. Riley, President; L. H. Buckner, Vice-President; and Jack H. Mahan, Executive Secretary. In 1955, a national election was held and Milburn E. Carey was elected President, and Raymond F. Dvorak was elected Vice-President. Jack H. Mahan was appointed Executive Secretary by the newly elected Board of Directors at the recommendation of President Carey. Further refinement of the national organization and the Constitution was worked out by Mahan and R. C. “Chief” Davidson of Plainview at a meeting held during the Tri-State Band Festival at Enid, Oklahoma in 1957. After this, the Fraternity began to grow to include additional states. Mississippi was slated to be installed as the fourth chapter and was assigned Delta, but the installation was unavoidably delayed. Louisiana became the fourth chapter to be installed but was assigned the name Epsilon, since Delta had already be allotted to Mississippi. The Fraternity became an international organization in 1975 with the installation of the following chapters: Graz, Austria - 1975 The National Officers who have served to date are: National President Alfred Riley, Interim President -
1954-1956 National Vice-President Raymond Dvorak - 1956-1981 National Executive Secretary Jack H. Mahan - 1954-1974 Brothers Harold L. Walters and Karl L. King collaborated in writing Men of Music March, published by Rubank, and dedicated it to Phi Beta Mu. Col. Earl D. Irons wrote Hail to the Fraternity, published by Volkwein Brothers and dedicated it to Phi Beta Mu. Since the early records of the Fraternity had been lost during World War II, the early history has been reconstructed through the taped reflections of Charter Member D. O. Wiley and conversations with Honorary Life President Milburn Carey and Honorary Life Secretary Jack Mahan. Dr. Wiley credited Brother Mahan with much of the growth of the Fraternity. Dr. Milburn Carey, Honorary Life President, chartered all of the chapters with the exception of the six chapters that Mahan chartered. All of the Brotherhood owes a great debt to Milburn Carey and Jack Mahan for their many contributions to Phi Beta Mu. |
Col. Irons and Dr.
O’Neal, with the ideas gleaned from the
earlier meetings at Texas Tech, wrote a proposed
Constitution and Oath which were approved in the
summer of 1938. The Charter members of Phi
Beta Mu were: Col. Earl D. Irons, Founder,
Carl Cochran, R. A. Dhossche, Walter S.
Dickensen, Sanford Eskridge, Joe L. Haddon,
Robert McCown, Clyde Rowe, George M. Rucker,
Russell E. Shrader, Richard Walker, and D. O.
Wiley 
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Copyright 2008. Phi Beta Mu - Alpha Chapter. Last
update:
06/20/2008