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E.A

E.A. Craighill, in 1893 Glee Club group portrait

Edward Addison Craighill, Jr. (December 29, 1873 in Lynchburg, Virginia – November 17, 1948)[1] was a member of the Virginia Glee Club and a primary author of The Good Old Song. [2]

Attending the University from 1892 to 1896 and graduating with a law degree, Craighill sang with the Glee Club in the Glee Club 1892-1893, 1893-1894, and 1894-1895 seasons. This period included the first season during which the Club toured outside the University grounds. He was also editor in chief of College Topics in 1894-95, and a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, O.W.L., and the "Black Cat" club.[3]

After graduation, he was a lawyer at Breed Abbott & Morgan in New York City in January 1921.[4]

"The Good Old Song"[]

Main article: The Good Old Song in the Making (1922 article)

Craighill was sometimes credited with authorship of the words to "The Good Old Song." In an article in the University of Virginia Magazine in October 1922, he disclaimed authorship of the first stanza of the song, saying "no one man should be credited with the authorship" and that it was the joint product of several students greeting a victorious football team in 1893. Nevertheless, he is understood to be the main author of the second and third stanzas, and played a significant role in helping to popularize the song from a one-time spontaneous crowd event to an unofficial "alma mater."[5][6]

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