The Yellow and The Green is the Alma Mater

Alma mater

Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

 of North Dakota State University

North Dakota State University

North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, more commonly known as North Dakota State University , is a public university in Fargo, North Dakota. NDSU has about 14,000 students and it is the largest university in North Dakota based on full time students and land size...

 in Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...

. The Yellow and The Green was written by a young North Dakota Agricultural College (now known as North Dakota State University) faculty member, Archibald E. Minard, in 1908. Minard later took the lyrics to Dr. Clarence S. Putnam, a fellow NDAC professor, to develop a musical setting for the lyrics. Minard hoped that the song would become the official song of the state of North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

. Instead, that designation went to another song for which Putnam composed the music, the North Dakota Hymn

North Dakota Hymn

The "North Dakota Hymn" is the state song of the U.S. state of North Dakota. It was written by a poet named James Foley in 1926 in such a way that it could be sung along with the tune of "The Austrian Hymn". C. S. Putman arranged the music with distinct ragtime syncopation.-Lyrics:The "North Dakota...

.

Lyrics

Lyrics composed in 1908

Ho! a cheer for Green and Yellow,

Up with Yellow and the Green;

They’re the shades that deck our prairies

Far and wide with glorious sheen,

Fields of waving green in springtime,

Golden yellow in the fall—

How the great high-arching heaven

Looks and laughs upon it all!

Here in autumn throng the nations,

Just to gather in the spoil,

Throng on freight-cars from the cities,

Some to feast and some to toil,

Then the yellow grain flows eastward

And the yellow gold flows back;

Barren cities boast their plenty

And the prairies know no lack.

Hushed upon the boundless prairies

Is the bison’s thund’ring tread,

And the red man passes with him

On his spoilers’ bounty fed.

But the Norse, the Celt and Saxon

With their herd increase, and find

Mid these fields of green and yellow

Plenty e’en for all mankind.

Ho! a cheer for Green and Yellow,

Up with Yellow and the Green;

They’re the shades that deck our prairies

Far and wide with glorious sheen,

Fields of waving green in springtime,

Golden yellow in the fall—

How the great high-arching heaven

Looks and laughs upon it all!

External links

• A brief history of The Yellow and the Green — Tom Isern (Professor of History, NDSU)
• The Yellow and The Green score
• The Yellow and The Green audio recording