The Yale Banjo Club began in 1884 when Clifton G. Austin chose eight of his best banjo and guitar students to stage a minstrel routine at Carl's Opera House. By 1887 the banjo club had joined forces with the glee club to perform 21 concerts per year.  In 1925 the jazz band and the modern orchestra overtook the traditional banjo.  By the late twenties the banjo was no longer found.  The last concerts of the banjo and glee club occurred during the season of 1927-28.
     In 1954 Keith Wilson conceived the idea of including a few of the surviving banjo club members in a "Pops" concert for Woolsey Hall.  This led to the formation of the "Yale Alumni Banjo Club" in 1955.