{"id":1572,"date":"2014-09-18T09:10:36","date_gmt":"2014-09-18T13:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=1572"},"modified":"2025-04-07T13:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T17:27:10","slug":"elsie-reilley-saved-anthem-star-spangled-banner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/elsie-reilley-saved-anthem-star-spangled-banner\/","title":{"rendered":"How Elsie Reilley saved the Anthem | The Star-Spangled Banner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Elsie<\/a>
Elsie Jorss in 1912, when she was 12<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most famous three-part name linked to \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner<\/a>\u201d is, of course, Francis Scott Key. In this bicentennial year of the composition of his ode to the American flag<\/a>, it\u2019s good to recall another name: Elsie Jorss Reilley, whose musical talent helped the poem become the National Anthem.<\/p>\n

From 1814 until 1931, when Congress passed and President Herbert Hoover signed the necessary bill, the U.S. had no national song. Credit for the 1931 act goes to many people, including five million Americans who signed petitions backing Key\u2019s composition. But Reilley was a major key to Key\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

Born in 1900 in Washington, D.C., to immigrant parents from Germany, she displayed in grade school recitals her excellence in singing. She had many other opportunities to show off her soprano voice. Active in charitable efforts, such as raising money to send mothers and babies to a get-away summer camp when she was a teen, Elsie entertained troops during World War I and sang during Memorial Day<\/a> services at Arlington National Cemetery, \u201creceiving many encores,\u201d according to a newspaper.<\/p>\n

In high school, Elsie appeared in an opera, sang at Rotary Club meetings, and performed during summer services at an Episcopal church and at a Christmas pageant in a Methodist church.<\/p>\n

\"Elsie<\/a>
Elsie Jorss Reilley with congressmen, sheet music and thousands of petitions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As an adult, she married the deputy commander of the D.C. post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which put her in the right place at the right time to take part in anointing Key\u2019s song as the National Anthem. Previous attempts to secure that designation had failed, in part because of objections that the tune was too difficult to perform.<\/p>\n

To refute that, in January 1930, two congressman invited Mrs. Reilley to accompany them to a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee, which was considering a new anthem bill. She was, according to the Associated Press, \u201can attractive soprano\u201d who was \u201cexhibit \u2018A\u2019 to prove\u2026that the \u2018rockets\u2019 red glare and bombs bursting in air\u2019 no longer soar too high for the average voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

By then a regular performer on the radio, she joined the Navy Band in presenting a rendition that transposed Key\u2019s song to a lower key. \u201cI was a bit frightened,\u201d she admitted later. \u201cSo much was at stake. I knew if I quavered on those high notes all would be lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she didn\u2019t, and the National Anthem was officially adopted a year later, thanks, in part, to the talented Elsie Jorss Reilley.<\/p>\n

\"National<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most famous three-part name linked to \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d is, of course, Francis Scott Key. In this bicentennial year of the composition of his ode to the American flag, it\u2019s good to recall another name: Elsie Jorss Reilley, whose musical talent helped the poem become the National Anthem. From 1814 until 1931, when Congress… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,105,104,103],"class_list":["post-1572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-francis-scott-key","tag-national-anthem","tag-star-spangled-banner"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Elsie Reilley saved the Star-Spangled Banner<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this bicentennial year of the star-spangled banner, it\u2019s good to recall Elsie Jorss Reilley, whose musical talent helped name the National Anthem.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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