Warren Kimsey and Community Singing at Camp Gordon, 1917–1918

Abstract

During the Great War, the Commission for Training Camp Activities (CTCA) pioneered a program in which civilian song leaders were assigned to camps throughout the United States. These men (and a few women) were instructed to organize regular community singing, train officers as song leaders, and cultivate musical talent among the soldiers. They also worked as song leaders in nearby towns and cities, an activity that was intended to improve military–civilian relations and promote patriotism. This article examines the career of Warren Kimsey, the first song leader assigned to Camp Gordon, an army training camp located near the city of Atlanta. Kimsey organized community singing both in the camp and in Atlanta, where he led enormous crowds in the newly constructed Auditorium–Armory. This study presents Kimsey’s work as a product of the nationwide community singing movement and its progressive political agenda, while at the same time contextualizing it in Atlanta’s identity as an emerging cultural center. It also identifies Kimsey’s contributions to music education in Georgia and discusses the broader influence of wartime song leaders on community music initiatives throughout the country.