"Whatever you do, fund the band": The History and Continuing Implementation of the 1921 Iowa Band Law
For years, community bands had two methods of receiving the requisite funds needed for operation during the concert season: donations from local businesses or the “pass-the-hat” method. The money was used to finance everything from instrument repair, director fees, uniforms, sheet music, and possibly the musicians themselves. However neither option for procuring funds was reliable and too often bands would have to cut their seasons short or complete disband due to insufficient resources. By the late 1910s, community bands were beginning to disappear, as small towns could no longer support their local groups. This predicament led many to ask: how could bands secure a reliable source of income and thereby continue to provide music and entertainment in their communities without relying on inconsistent means of funding like donations? One man’s solution would raise the status of community bands from paupers to municipally funded organizations. Living in the small Iowan town of Clarinda, George W. Landers would in short order become known as the Father of the Iowa Band Law, a law that afforded cities and towns the option of voting on a tax to fund their local community band. Following the passage of the Iowa Band Law, numerous cities and towns in the state adopted the measure. The law became a model for similar laws in over thirty other states and at least three countries, until popular tastes changed and the measures began to be repealed. Today, the Iowa Band Law is still in effect, though it a significantly altered form, and is funding a few bands in the state. This thesis will examine the current, existing literature regarding the law, its history in the Iowa legislature, and two small town bands that benefited from the tax it imposed.
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