The Mills Brothers who called Bellefontaine their home broke many racial barriers during in their rise to the top of the musical charts in early 20th century and became world-renown entertainers with their distinct harmonic sound.
John Jr., Herbert, Harry and Donald Mills recorded chart-topping hit singles and performed with Bing Cosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and other musical greats.
The group circled the globe 16 times, hosting concerts on every continent, and became the first African-American group to perform before a British monarch, playing for King George V and Queen Mary in 1934.
Now about 90 years later, local youths involved with LoCo Art and a guest artist, Keith Wilde of Athens, have kicked off a new venture to create a public mural in recognize the talented musicians who helped bring honor and prestige to their hometown.
Monday morning, mural artists in grades 7-12 from Bellefontaine, Indian Lake, Benjamin Logan and West Liberty-Salem schools gathered at the Logan County History Center to learn more about The Mills Brothers, who began singing at their father’s barber shop, on street corners, in churches, at county fairs and many other venues.
Todd McCormick, museum director and curator, introduced the students to the history center’s display of Mills Brothers items, which includes a plethora of their albums, posters and other memorabilia from their hit songs like, “I’ll Be Around,” “Paper Doll,” “Smoke Rings,” “Cab Driver” and “Tiger Rag.”
Early on, the brothers developed the ability to imitate such musical instruments as trombones, trumpets and tubas with just their voices, the area teens observed while listening to various performances.
In 1929, a CBS Radio executive heard the brothers perform their signature soft rhythm style and signed them to a contract. The Mills Brothers became the first African-American vocal group to perform on national radio and also have their own nationally broadcast radio show, as reported in previous Bellefontaine Examiner articles.
“They are a point of pride for the community; for a muralist, this is just the kind of subject that we’re looking for,” said Wilde, who has created murals in Southeastern Ohio, West Virginia and as far away as the Dominican Republic.
“While we’re representing history in this piece, we’re also wanting to make it contemporary so that it will last the test of time for future generations to enjoy.”
West Liberty-Salem High School senior Andrea Caldwell said upon learning that the LoCo Art mural project would focus on this musical group, she was immediately interested.
“I love jazz music, and The Mills Brothers are one of my favorites,” said the art and music enthusiast, who also received second place photography honors in the recent Champaign County Art Show.
“I think for people in my generation, they might not know who The Mills Brothers are, but a project like this will help us to share about them and their music with younger people.”
LoCo Art board member and Benjamin Logan Middle School art teacher Jennifer Davis, who spearheaded Monday’s workshop, said the future mural be installed on the exterior of the building connected to Brewfontaine in the downtown area, taking the place of a former mural at that location.
After students listened to some of The Mills Brothers’ music and checked out the memorabilia at the museum, they sketched ideas and brainstormed alongside Wilde Monday afternoon at the LoCo Art’s studio space located at the Holland Theatre. They also enjoyed a lunch provided by Brewfontaine.
Wilde said he will be able to take the students’ insights and drawings to create a final design plan for the painted mosaic mural.
Continuing this fall, the core group of students will continue their work on the large-scale piece. Pupils in Davis’ art classes and students in Melanie Antram-Ingraham’s art classes at Bellefontaine High School will contribute to the project as well.
“We’ll be excited to get these students involved on this new endeavor, and to be able to utilize our LoCo art studio space at the Holland Theatre for the first time. We haven’t been able to do any large-scale projects there in the past year because of the pandemic,” Davis said.