05/19/2026
From the Archives - The Men of Music: Preserving 90 years of Friendship, Fellowship, and Song
Various records documenting the activities of Midland organizations and groups are found within the Archives of the Midland County Historical Society. These records serve to preserve and document not only the activities of a group, but also the people that created, influenced, or participated in them. Understanding the past helps in the present, especially during times of celebration, such as with the 90th anniversary of the Men of Music.
The history of the Men of Music is documented through photographs, programs, newspaper articles and publications spanning the decades and tracing the groups origins to a person, a place, a Company, and the right time.
An early scrapbook found in the Men of Music Records provides key information to understand the beginning, an article cut from the October 1937 issue of The Dow Diamond. The clipping shares the origins of the group, when on November 1, 1936, Frank Whaley, a Dow Chemical Company employee in the Calcium Chloride Sales Division, had an idea to bring together a small group of men to form a chorus supported by the company. As the story goes, Whaley spent the afternoon in an office with management singing together, when the meeting was over, he walked out with a contract and the companies support, the first rehearsal included forty-five men from across the company. The new group would come to be known as the Dow Male Chorus, open to all employees of the Dow Chemical Company.
The start of the chorus would lead to the creation of the Dow Chemical Company Music Department, and at its peak included a Girls Chorus and Symphony Orchestra and responsible for bringing Theodore Vosburgh to Midland.
The Dow Male Chorus traveled the country with trips to Oklahoma and Texas, performances with various groups, an annual Spring Show and participating in Big Sing events. Time brings changes, including the change from a company supported group to a community group, the Dow Male Chorus navigated the change and in 1961 became the Men of Music.
The Men of Music Records held in the archives is a collaborative effort with the Men of Music to help ensure the preservation and documentation of their long history and legacy in the community.
