Dale Thomas, a Florida A&M University alum, has self-published a 236-page picture book, Bands on “The Hill”: A Pictorial History of Bands at Florida A&M University , capturing the history of FAMU’s band and instrumental music programs and detailing some early events, directors and students associated with them.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat , Thomas published the book in October 2023 to celebrate the band program’s 130th anniversary, which he said he worked on for nearly a decade.
“I’m sort of like a history buff, so anything dealing with African American history, music, or band history, that’s me,” Thomas told the outlet.
He remarked on the time-consuming task of compiling the book’s research, saying, “It’s 130 years (of history) and so it was really hard to cover all of … the band program.”
Thomas, an academic advisor at Tallahassee State College, earned an undergraduate degree in music education from FAMU before receiving master’s degrees in educational administration and leadership and library and information studies from Florida State University, per the Democrat.