House of Remick

This proud-looking man is Jerome Hosmer Remick. While his name may not be familiar to you, the House of Remick was at one time the largest publisher of popular music in the world. Remick was born on the site of the present-day Federal Building in 1867 and graduated from the Detroit Business University in 1887. He briefly worked in his grandfather’s lumber firm before purchasing a half interest in the Detroit music publishing firm of Whitney-Warner. It soon reorganized into the Jerome H. Remick & Co. and became the largest publishing company in the world, headquartered in the Cass Building on W Fort Street. In 1907 alone, the printing stock used by the company cost more than $127,000 ($3 million today). By the time Remick retired in 1928, the firm had published 60,000 pieces. He died three years later at the age of 63.

Leonard Smith Band performing at the Remick Bandshell on Belle Isle, 1953.

 

Remick was also President of the Detroit Symphony Society and he felt that one of his greatest achievements was voting to bring the noted conductor Ossip Gabrilowitsch to Detroit. The bandshell on Belle Isle, officially named the Jerome H. Remick Music Shell, was dedicated in Remick’s honor on July 13, 1950 and has since hosted the Detroit City Orchestra as well as the Detroit Concert Band. - Natasha Rogers, Wayne State University Graduate Student

Example of sheet music published by Jerome H. Remick & Co.