In February 1898—when the school was still
New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts—
The New Hampshire College Monthly published an editorial requesting a college song. In April, the
College Monthly reported that the judges felt the contributions received "were hardly suited" to be adopted as the college song. In October 1903, the
College Monthly published a "College Song" sung to "
Fair Harvard", with New Hampshire-oriented lyrics—the opening line was "New Hampshire, thy sons and thy daughters return". The date of first publication of the current alma mater is unclear. Under the title "New Hampshire Hymn", the words were included in the inaugural (1909) edition of
The Granite, the school's college yearbook, published in May 1908. ==Lyrics==