And now for a little ragtime

- Obituary for Day -

Luella Lucile Hudson Day (Ella Hudson Day), a prominent Rotan citizen in the early 1900's, composed music and wrote songs. Two of her ragtime tunes, Quality Rag (1909) and Fried Chicken Rag (1912), were nationally known. Day's Quality Rag was composed a few years before Scott Joplin's or James Scott's pieces of similar name.

As time goes on, I wonder if people get weary of their hometown heroes. Without a street named after them, they fade into the background.

In a 1966 Abilene Reporter article, Day and Josie Baird were listed alongside Sammy Baugh as noted citizens of Fisher County.

Josie Baird was a well-known teacher at Rotan. She wrote Tom Bond, Bronc-buster,Cow-poke and Traildriver. A scholarship has been given in her name by Gamma Tau Chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.

Sources:

• Musescore
• The Portal to Texas History, obituary
• The Portal to Texas History, article 
• Rag Piano
• Double Mountain Chronicle, Baird scholarship