Joseph Bailey; Composed 1,100 Pieces of Organ Music

Joseph Alexander Bailey, 85, a social studies teacher who spent his retirement years composing about 1,100 pieces of organ music. Born in Columbia, S.C., Bailey earned the first master’s degree awarded by Atlanta University in 1931. He later taught history and social studies at Arkansas A M & N College and at Englewood High School in Chicago. When he retired to Redlands in 1968, he turned to writing poetry and composing music. He said he frequently dreamed music between midnight and 6 a.m. and would wake up and go to his Conn organ to compose. On Sunday in Redlands of cancer.