Dr. James Condell in 1971

clay county histories

 Markus Krueger | Program Director  HCSCC

One of the most exciting artifacts that will be on display in our upcoming exhibit Stories of Local Black History (opening March 22) is one of James Condell’s guitars. Psychologist Dr. James Condell and his wife biologist Dr. Yvonne Condell came to teach at Moorhead State College (now Minnesota State University Moorhead) in 1965. Dr. James Condell played an important role in encouraging his college’s efforts to recruit diverse students and faculty, and also in mentoring those students once they got here. But in addition to his accomplishments in the Social Sciences and Academia, James was also a world class musician.     

James Condell played his first gig at the age of just 14 in Louisville, KY. His skill playing piano got him a scholarship at Kentucky State College, but since the college band already had a piano player, he took up a new instrument: the guitar. He also began studying psychology and sociology. 

He served with the US Army Air Corps during WWII and, after the war, he played in a nightclub’s house band in Nashville. After about a year of being a professional musician, he decided to make a career in Academia. He received further education at Columbia, New York University, and the University of Nebraska. While teaching at Florida A & M, he met his wife, biologist Yvonne Condell. In 1956, the two moved north, first to Grand Forks and then to Fergus Falls where Yvonne taught at the community college and James helped kids at the Lakeland Mental Health Association. In 1958, he became the first African American member of Rotary International in Fergus Falls, and as far as he knew, in the whole USA. 

Missing the school environment, both James and Yvonne Condell took jobs teaching in Moorhead. He served as Professor of Psychology for the next 27 years, including 10 as the head of the department, but he never gave up music. He formed and performed in bands across the region and hosted popular public radio jazz programs. Dr. Condell even learned Spanish so he could study Classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. He was GOOD. Do you want to hear him? 

Our museum has digitized 6.5 hours of Dr. Condell’s performances from the 1970s to the 1990s, but there is a catch. One of James’ specialties was arranging music – taking existing songs and customizing them for his particular band. The copyright of those songs are owned by music corporations ASCAP and BMI. In order to legally play Dr. Condell’s music publicly, we have to pay fees the same as any business with a jukebox. 

Bill Law, a name well-known to regional music lovers, is one of those people whose life was touched by Dr. Condell. James was a mentor to Bill as a teacher and as a bandmate. And Bill has a challenge to fans of Jazz and friends of Dr. Condell. He will match every dollar until we get the $2260 needed to let Dr. Condell’s music be heard in both this exhibit and the upcoming exhibit about Ralph’s Corner Bar (where James also played). Drop me a line if you can help.