“Call Me Henry”: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This sheet music for the song, "Call Me Henry (A march)" was composed by Charles Benter, a bandmaster in the United States Navy and Director of the Navy Yard Band. The music was published by the Almas Temple in Washington, DC in 1920. The cover has a picture of Henry Lansburgh in the center, who was the Illustrious Potentate (highest rank) of the ALMAS Shriners in the 1920’s. It is rumored that he merely wanted “Call Me Henry” and his life dates inscribed on his grave marker, and this song might have gone along with that wish.

Materials, dates and provenance

• publishing date: 1920
• composer: Benter, Charles
• publisher: Almas Temple
• Object Name: sheet music
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 13 1/2 in x 10 1/2 in; 34.29 cm x 26.67 cm
• place made: United States: District of Columbia, Washington
• ID Number: 1982.0439.17
• catalog number: 1982.0439.017
• accession number: 1982.0439
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.