Long before Carolyn Brown Shrewsbury (circa 1942-) began teaching generations of young gymnasts, she was the youngster onstage doing the things that seemed nearly impossible.
Brown, who grew up in Maryland, began performing as a child in the 1950s. Photographs from her early career show an act that combined acrobatics, contortion, balancing and baton work. By age 7, she was already performing on a small table. Later photographs show increasingly elaborate apparatus, including elevated platforms, staircases and hand-balancing equipment.
Her specialty required extraordinary strength and flexibility. In one routine, Brown climbed a spiral staircase while in a handstand, carrying blocks one at a time and stacking them. Other parts of her act included one-arm handstands and balancing on her head or one hand on small platforms mounted high above the stage. Based on these photographs, which we gently restored using AI software, she also incorporated baton twirling into her contortion routines.
It’s no suprise that her act took her well beyond local performances.
According to the history maintained by MGA Gymnastics, Brown appeared on The Howdy Doody Show, Bozo the Clown and The Mickey Mouse Club. She also performed in Atlantic City in a show near the famous Steel Pier diving-horse attraction.
Surviving photographs provide a remarkable record of that period. In several, Brown performs contortion and hand-balancing routines while holding or manipulating batons. Another shows her being interviewed by a television host following a performance. Based on our research, we think it was The Howdy Doody Show.
Brown’s connection to baton twirling did not end with her childhood stage act. She attended the University of Maryland at College Park, where university records identify her as Carolyn J. Brown of Brentwood, Maryland. She majored in physical education and was active in Gymkana, the university’s gymnastics exhibition troupe. She also belonged to the university majorettes and served as their captain. A Maryland yearbook photograph even records an occupational hazard of the job: Brown suffered a twisted ankle while performing a routine during a Homecoming halftime show.
Her gymnastics credentials at Maryland were equally substantial. Brown appears on the roster of the 1960-61 Gymkana troupe. That year she was part of the “Tumbling Terrapins,” which received the troupe’s Best Act award. Gymkana made 15 road-show appearances that season and performed during halftime of the Maryland-Duke Homecoming football game. The troupe also made a taped television appearance on WTOP’s Twenty Fifth Hour.
It was at Maryland that Brown met Jerry Burroughs Shrewsbury.
Jerry, who would eventually build a long career in education, became interested in acrobatics as well. The two performed with Gymkana, married and turned what had been Carolyn’s childhood profession into a family enterprise.
In 1965, after the birth of their daughter, Lora Jean, Carolyn and Jerry opened Carolyn and Jerry’s School of Dance in Bowie, Maryland. The school offered dance as well as acrobatics. Their son, Brian, was born five years later.
In 1973, the Shrewsburys opened Royal T’s Gymnastics in Crofton. The program eventually moved to Upper Marlboro and developed into today’s MGA Gymnastics. According to MGA, Carolyn and Jerry trained thousands of children during their years as coaches. The program also produced high-level gymnasts, including Racine Williams, who later became the first Black gymnast at the University of Nebraska.
The family eventually passed operation of the gym to the next generation, but the origins of the program can be traced directly to the little girl in these spectacular black-and-white photographs.
Today, Carolyn is in her 80s and living in Florida. Her husband Jerry passed away in May 2026.
The Vintage Twirler researched newspaper, Maryland, University of Maryland and Florida archives as well as public social media posts for this article. AI assisted with organization and editing of the story.
