02.24.08
The National Anthem and Sports
For many years now, my friends and I have questioned the propriety of singing the national anthem before sports events. We never quite understood why this was such a tradition. Well, I’m here to tell you I now know the answer.
According to Gunther Barth in “Ball Park,” a chapter found in his book City People we can blame it on William H. Cammeyer, builder of the first enclosed baseball field in the country.
Cammeyer left his mark on the atmosphere of the ball park by playing at the beginning of a game a popular song, “The Star Spangled Banner,” which in 1916 by presidential order became the official anthem of the United States.
Let’s parse this some shall we?
- The national anthem did not became the national anthem just because Francis Scott Key wrote new lyrics in 1812 for a popular drinking song. Why this particular song with its peculiar melody was so popular is still a mystery to me.
- Cammeyer built his baseball field in 1862. “Star Spangled Banner” was a popular patriotic song of the time but still not the national anthem.
- By the time the “Star Spangled Banner” became the national anthem, the tradition of singing it before sporting events had been in place for 54 years.
So I think we can blame baseball for the tradition of singing the national anthem before sporting events.
Source
Barth, Gunther. “Ball Park” in City People. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980). 167.
(required text for “American Urban History,” Spring 2008)