*HR1523*
Introduced Version
HOUSE
RESOLUTION No. ___
Introduced by: Klinker
____________________________________
1 A HOUSE RESOLUTION recognizing Gladys Stone
2 Wright on her 100th birthday.
3
4 Whereas, Gladys Stone Wright was born March 8, 1925, in
5 Wasco, Oregon;
6 Whereas, Wright graduated from high school in 1943 and
7 studied at Willamette University for one year before
8 transferring to the University of Oregon, where she received
9 her bachelor's and master's degrees in music education;
10 Whereas, Gladys Stone Wright was a high school band
11 director at a time when that was considered an unusual job for
12 a woman, and many school administrators were against hiring
13 a woman for the position. She was the high school band
14 director at Elmira (Oregon) Union High School from 1948 to
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1 1953; Otterbein (Indiana) High School from 1954 to 1961;
2 Klondike High School in West Lafayette, Ind., from 1963 to
3 1970; and William Henry Harrison High School in West
4 Lafayette, Ind., from 1970 to 1984;
5 Whereas, Gladys Stone Wright was one of the first woman
6 band directors in the United States and the first in the state of
7 Oregon, and she was the second woman to become a member
8 of the American School Band Directors Association, which
9 included 450 men;
10 Whereas, Wright was a distinguished director who received
11 multiple awards and ratings. Under her direction, her school
12 bands received "superior" ratings for 22 consecutive years;
13 Whereas, In 1970, Wright received a citation of excellence
14 from the National Band Association, and in 1971, she won the
15 Tau Beta Sigma National Service in Music Award at the
16 University of Michigan, which is awarded to distinguished
17 female conductors, composers, educators, administrators,
18 artists, and clinicians who have helped promote bands as a
19 musical art form;
20 Whereas, Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wright
21 helped found the Women Band Directors National Association,
22 now called Women Band Directors International, serving as its
23 first president;
24 Whereas, In 1995, Gladys Stone Wright was inducted into
25 the International Women Band Directors Hall of Fame, and in
26 1997, she was the first woman to be elected to the National
27 Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Conductors;
28 Whereas, Wright was the first woman to be a guest
29 conductor with the United States Navy Band and the Goldman
30 Band;
31 Whereas, Gladys Stone Wright is a composer, author, music
32 judge, and clinician, and she has won multiple awards for her
33 work in these fields; and
34 Whereas, Gladys Stone Wright is a trailblazer for women
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1 band directors and helped grow and diversify the band
2 profession as a whole through her many contributions to the art
3 form: Therefore,
4 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the
5 General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
6 SECTION 1. That the Indiana House of Representatives
7 celebrates Gladys Stone Wright upon her 100th birthday and
8 recognizes her achievements as a band director.
9 SECTION 2. That the Principal Clerk of the House of
10 Representatives shall transmit copies of this resolution to State
11 Representative Sheila Klinker for distribution.
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