Memorial to former Harding band director dedicated at Mollenkopf

WARREN – A memorial to former Warren G. Harding High School band director Robert E. Fleming was dedicated at Mollenkopf Stadium at a recent football game.

The memorial was a collaborative effort of the Warren G. Harding Band Historical Association, the Trumbull County Historical Society and the Warren City School District. The band historical association came to fruition in late 2021.

The memorial reads: “A LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE. Robert E. Fleming (1931-2011), from 1958 to 1968, built the WGH High School band into a musical powerhouse, praised throughout the land for its dynamic, precision performances. In 1961 it made history as the first high school marching band in the nation to perform at an NFL halftime on national television. Under the direction of Fleming, with assistants Clinton E. Foster and John Kobasiar Jr., the band reached the pinnacle of national acclaim. Presented by band alumni to honor our esteemed director, Robert Fleming, whose unwavering commitment to excellence profoundly influenced our lives, and to inspire future generations of young musicians to uphold his remarkable and enduring legacy. DEDICATED SEPTEMBER 25, 2026.”

The memorial then lists the Warren G. Harding Band Historical Association officers and the memorial’s steering committee. It also acknowledges the Trumbull County Historical Society.

Fleming died on Christmas Day in 2011.

The Warren G. Harding Band Historical Association: The Fleming Legacy came to fruition in late 2021. Joyce Ormsby Meyer and Jean Neidhart Hood, both directors of collections and communications for the organization and members of the band in the late 1960s, had the idea to reunite their former bandmates to find, preserve and protect the legacy of what some call the “greatest high school band that ever lived.”

The committee began with a few members in January and February 2022, but as word of mouth spread of what the group was doing, the project quickly expanded in membership by March of that year, culminating in the committee’s first meeting in June 2022.

They partnered with the Trumbull County Historical Society shortly after that. Going live with a Fleming Legacy website sparked an outpouring of people who kept items, such as a Harding Panther bass drum head, a signed photo of Fleming and even a black-and-white marching band uniform complete with a hat and plume.

Archived footage of the band’s performances was found, including a halftime show at a Cleveland Browns game in 1969 after Fleming had already left to teach at Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music.

In 2010 the Harding band’s famous architectural protective covering at Mollenkopf Stadium was formally dedicated to and inscribed as the Robert E. Fleming band shell.

More information on the Warren G. Harding Band Historical Association can be found on its website.