How many of you know South Dakota’s state song? How many of you knew we even had one?
Yes, included among our many state symbols is a tune called “Hail, South Dakota,” our official state song since 1943, despite several challenges to replace it. The story behind its selection — and DeeCort Hammitt, the man who wrote it — is one that South Dakotans should remember.
Hammitt was born in Spencer in 1893. His family relocated to Alcester in 1900, where he nurtured his ever-growing interest in music. Hammitt learned to play piano by ear and eventually provided music for silent films shown in the Alcester theater.
Hammitt graduated from Alcester High School in 1912 and married Bessie Durkee from Alexandria in 1913. That same year, he composed a song called “The South Dakota Rag.” The Hammitts settled into life in Alcester, eventually raising 11 children. DeeCort worked at the Alcester State Bank by day and served terms as the city treasurer and assistant postmaster. Music, however, remained his passion.
Hammitt formed the Sunshine State Music Company and continued writing music that found its way into the repertoires of bandleaders like Tommy Dorsey and Lawrence Welk. In 1915, the John T. Hall Music publishing company in New York selected his song “Don’t Take My Lovin’ Baby Away” as the winner in a nationwide songwriting contest with more than 1,500 entrants. He also organized the Alcester Community Band 1921 and directed it for 25 years. The group took regular trips to the Belle Fourche Roundup, which led to a Hammitt composition called “The Roundup March.” He wrote special lyrics when he learned that President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge would attend the roundup during their vacation in the Black Hills in 1927.
When the Sioux Falls Argus Leader announced a contest for a new state song in 1941, Hammitt immediately thought of his “Roundup March.” He wrote another set of new lyrics that praised South Dakota’s “Black Hills, and mines with gold so rare,” and our “farms and prairies, blessed with bright sunshine.” He called it “Hail, South Dakota” and entered it with 157 other songs. A committee of judges narrowed the field to six, which all received airtime on radio stations in South Dakota’s largest cities on January 9 and 10, 1942. South Dakotans filled out ballots that were printed in newspapers across the state and sent them to the Argus Leader. “Hail, South Dakota” emerged as the winner, and the state legislature made it official in March 1943. Hammitt received plenty of accolades but remained humble. “While Hammitt was pleased with the honor and attention the song received, he said he simply wanted to promote the state he loved,” a newspaper reported.
School and community choirs commonly sang “Hail, South Dakota” for several years before it slowly began to fade from popular culture. The Hammitts relocated to California after World War II, and DeeCort died there in 1970. His son and daughter-in-law, Howard and Dorothy Hammitt of Elk Point, took on the responsibility of promoting and preserving the state song, successfully coming to its defense on several occasions when legislators debated replacing it with what they considered livelier and more modern tunes.
While it may not hold the place it once did in the state’s popular culture, it remains an important part of certain musical catalogs, including that of the South Dakota National Guard’s 147th Army Band, which play’s “Hail, South Dakota” for the governor to this day.
