Figure 1.--This choir has its portrait taken in the early 20th century, probably the 1900s, in Dundee, Illinois The choir master is in the middle of the Choir. The photographer was Kildahl. Notice that the women and girls wear mortar board caps. We are not sure what denominations used these mortar boards.

The greatest number of choirs is of course church choirs. Given the number of churches in America, the number of church choirs is very large. Only schools existed in larger numbers and not all schools had choirs. Quite a number of individual churches did and continue to sponsor choirs. Here both Catholic and Protestant churches sponsored choirs. These choirs varied widely. Some were all adult choirs without children. Some were choirs with adults and children. Others were children choirs. These were often mixed choirs with both boys and girls. We are not yet sure how the various denominations approached choirs. We think in many cases the choices about choirs may often been made at the individual church level. Of course the undividual capabilities of the choir masters were also very important. Many of these choirs had costumes, normally robes. The choristers wore their regular clothes under the robes. Some denominations require women and girls to cover their heads inside the church so we see some wearing mortar boards caps or other headwear in some choirs.