ALBION MUSIC

Yours truly will have his Albion History booth in front of Citizens Bank at the Festival of the Forks on Saturday, September 19. Be sure and drop by and see me. I’ll have copies of my latest book, “Albion in Review” to sign, as well as some of my previous works and a variety of items.

I really like the Festival theme this year of Albion music. Albion has had some great musicians in its history, some who have even played professionally. Back in 1999 my Riverside Cemetery tour was entitled “A Musicians Tour of Riverside Cemetery.” I featured several persons who either sold, wrote, played, taught, or sang music locally. I guess we here in Albion have a lot to sing about. Of course Albion’s “claims to fame” are “The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi,” and “The Old Rugged Cross,” both composed locally.

My favorite, however, is the 1912 ditty composed by Albion High School student Wesley Irma Dorris. Irma, as he was known, was the son of Methodist minister J.C. Dorris. Irma’s song was entitled, “Hang Your Hat in Albion.” The chorus goes like this: “Hang your hat in Albion, Albion, ‘Just right.’ It’s a happy little college town, growth and business all around. Population on the bound. That’s the place to build your nest. So get in line with all the rest, and hang your hat in Albion.”

From our Historical Notebook this week we present the cover of “Hang Your Hat in Albion.” This sheet music was reprinted locally a decade or so ago, and copies can still be obtained. How many of our readers have ever played this song on their keyboard or guitar?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
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