Dottie Dunston: A Jersey Shore Original Dorothy “Dottie” Dunston was one of the most influential baton twirling instructors on the Jersey Shore during the Golden Age of baton twirling. A performer, teacher, judge, pageant director, and school owner, Dunston spent decades introducing...
The_Camden News, April 26, 1974 Born in 1927, James Percy “J.P. (Pee Wee)” Crumpler began twirling in 1937 and quickly became one of the most remarkable young drum majors in the South. At just 12 years of age, he was leading the Camden High School Panther Band under the direction of...
Albright, Bob. [Photograph 2012.201.B0237.0588], photograph, April 2, 1966; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc337876/: accessed May 24, 2026), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society. For generations, baton twirlers,...
Today is the Indianapolis 500, and Purdue Twirling will be performing on the race track. Here are some wonderful historic images (negatives) of this long-standing tradition, which we discovered on an Indianapolis 500 Archive. Members of the Purdue University Marching Band make their way down the...
Chris Jones is the Midwestern Meanderer on Etsy. A photographer, he takes pictures of yesterday’s highlights that endure. He is a premier American Roadside and Route 66 photographer. His stunning picture of Jo Ann, the Airway Majorette, is avaiable on Etsy in several sizes. Check it out!...
Old Forge’s First Miss Devilette Has Passed Away Maryann Beseda Brigido, the original “Miss Devilette” of Old Forge High School, Pennsylvani, has passed away at the age of 87. Her death marks the loss of the first performer to hold a title that has come to define Friday night...
July Vintage Twirler of the Month As America begins celebrating its 250th anniversary, the Baton Twirling Preservation Society is proud to announce Nancy Rollings Stewart of Gadsden, Alabama, as the inaugural Vintage Twirler of the Month for July 2026. The selection could not be more fitting. A...
Sequoyah Schools Diamondettes dance-twirl team, circa 1971 Sequoyah’s legendary DiamondettesThe Diamondettes were the dance twirl team of Sequoyah Schools during the 1960s and 1970s, when the school operated as a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school serving Native students from tribes across...
Xernona and Xenobia Brewster, Late 1940s | Muskogee, Oklahoma Long before one of them became a nationally honored civil rights icon with a bronze statue in downtown Atlanta, identical twins Xernona and Xenobia Brewster were known in Oklahoma as “The Brewster Twins,” a polished majorette act from...
James “J.C.” Baskett became one of the most recognizable figures in Tennessee baton twirling through his work as a collegiate performer, instructor, and co-founder of the Tennessee Twirling Institute, a program that helped shape competitive baton twirling across the Southeast during the second...
“When I was 10 years old I was a baton twirler. My mom made all of my costumes and painstakingly sewed sequins onto pleats, gauntlets, stars and even made a blue sequin hat out of a form over the top of an empty coffee can! I’ve kept a few of those items of clothing for over 50 years now....
The Neon Majorette — The iconic sign as it originally appeared at the Campus Drive-In Theatre in San Diego. Marion Caster Baker was a majorette for the Los Angeles Rams in 1947. She is also suspected to be the inspiration and model for the famous neon majorette sign installed in 1948 near San...
