CHS School Song -- "Alma Mater"

Campbell High School Song

Alma Mater

On Dunklin County's northern border
Fields of cotton grow.
'Tis the home of Campbell High School,
Finest place we know.

Alma Mater, Alma Mater,
Black and gold so true.
Hail to thee our Alma Mater,
Hail to thee our school.

High school life at best is passing,
Gliding swiftly by.
Let us pledge our word and deed,
Our love for Campbell High.

Alma Mater, Alma Mater,
Black and gold so true.
Hail to thee our Alma Mater,
Hail to thee our school.

Norman King, Class of 1949, proposes
the following verse for Alumni Reunions:

Now we're here for Class Reunions,
How the time's passed by !
Back with friends and fellow classmates,
Back to Campbell High.

Alma Mater, Alma Mater,
Black and gold so true.
Hail to thee our Alma Mater,
Hail to thee our school.

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since Nov. 26, 2000

* The above photo was taken at the 1997 CHS Reunion. Marietta (Daffron) Hughes (in pink) and the Malin Family (from left -- Tom, Phyllis, Judy, and Ken) led the group in singing the Alma Mater.

Alma Mater MIDI sequenced by Hal Miller, Jan. 13, 2001.

As an interesting footnote: On June 5, 2002, I was contacted by email by Edwin Tan, a 14-year-old student from the Chinese High School (also CHS !) in the Republic of Singapore. He had found my version of the Alma Mater by searching the Internet. Edwin asked if I knew the source of the music, and I responded that the most famous use of that music is by Cornell University in New York state. The Cornell University school song is named High Above Cayuga's Waters. (The University of Missouri also uses the same music.)

The words to the Chinese High School's version of the song were written around the 1920s by Zhao Yuan, according to Edwin, who mentioned his entire Chinese High School school song project.

Later in 2002, Edwin emailed me that he had continued to research the music, and had discovered that it comes from the song Annie Lisle written in 1857 by H.G. Thompson. Edwin provided this information on Annie Lisle and about himself.

Edwin says that Singapore is a small island of 500 square miles at the Equator on the other side of the world from the USA, and that Singapore uses British English, having been a colony of the United Kingdom from 1819 to 1965. Their independence was achieved peacefully, and through a series of agreements, he says.

My thanks to Edwin for providing this historical information about the CHS (both Chinese and local) school songs, and for bringing the world a little closer together.

Regarding the Campbell High School song, I am quite sure that someone from Campbell wrote the words to our Alma Mater. I wonder if anyone knows the circumstances of the writing of our version, and who the author might have been?

Email: semo777@aol.com