Black Baton Twirlers & Majorettes
I’m gonna make it to heaven / Light up the sky like a flameI’m gonna live forever / Baby, remember my nameRemember, remember, remember, remember(Irene Cara as Coco Hernandez, Fame, 1980)
Baton Twirling Class, Tuley Park Fieldhouse (1963)
An instructor leads a group of girls in a baton twirling class in a gymnasium at Tuley Park Fieldhouse, Chattham, Illinois, circa 1963. Source: Richard J. Daley Collection, University of Illinois
Brighton High School Majorettes (1950s)
Mamie Allen | Brighton High School, Jefferson County, Alabama, 1950s. Miss Cole (Possible first name: Jean, Jessie or Dorothy) Brighton Hight School Majorette, Jefferson County, Alabama, 1953-1956.
Veronica “Bonnie Cakes” Sadler (nee Syfax)
Veronica "Bonnie Cakes" Sadler (nee Syfax) was born in Mississippi and attended Central High School, Columbs, Ohio, where she was a majorette. Sadler died in 2016. Photo Provided
Dorothy Vinella Humphrey, Drum Majorette (Prairie View College)
Dorothy Vinella Humphrey (1928-2002) was a drum major for Booker T. Washington HS, Dallas, and also Prairie View College, now Prairie View A&M University. Prairie View is a public historically black land-grant university located northwest of Houston. It was...
Langston University Majorettes
February is Black History Month! Follow along as we share a whole new collection of historic images of Black twirlers and majorettes. Here are some pictures we've discovered of Langston University majorettes and twirlers. Langston is Oklahoma's only historically black...
Majorettes on MLK’s 45th Birthday (1974)
Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday commemoration MarchPhotographer: Lewis, Boyd, 1944-2023 DescriptionView of unidentified majorettes participating in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade marking the slain civil rights leader's 45th birthday, on Auburn Avenue in...
Clark Atlanta University Majorettes
The following images of Clark Atlanta University Majorettes are shared by permission from Clark College / Clark Atlanta University, Robert W. Woodruff Libraries. They were taken in 1950, 1957 and 1960, at football games. Clark is an Historic Black University. Today,...
1954 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Pauline West Grissom (1937-1994)
In celebration of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we will share vintage pictures of twirlers and majorettes marching and performing in past Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades. The following post was published by the Freeport Memorial Library, Freeport, New York. Many...
Elaine Jones, Longtime Leader in the Sport of Baton Twirling
Photo Restored with AI Software Elaine Jones is a longtime leader and living legend in the sport of baton twirling. A coach for nearly 50 years, she has taught more than 1,000 students, many of whom went on to twirl and dance in high school and college. Hailing from...
1970s Polaroid
A young Black girl sporting a blue western-style pantsuit twirls a store-bought baton in her kitchen. We know it's the kitchen because you can see Maxwell House coffee in the lower lefthand corner. 😉 All in all, a very cute vintage Polaroid. Those store-bought batons...
Homecoming 1966 (Montgomery, ALABAMA)
Photos by Jim Peppler for the Souther Courier; Source: Alabama Departnebt of Archives and History. The pictures were taken during a Homecoming parade in 1966. The students were from Booker T. Washington High School, Montgomery, Alabama. All three photos were edited...
Rare 1940s Portrait of Black Majorette Mae Alice Hinkle
Check out this lovely rare 1940s portrait of Black majorette Mae Alice Hinkle. It was taken in 1943. Ms. Hinkle grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri where she attended Douglass High School. Formal portraits of baton twirlers and majorettes from the early 1940s are...
Douglass HS Twirler Jeri Young (1981)
One of the last high schools in Oklahoma City to boast a full baton twirling majorette line was Frederick Douglass High School. On this night in 1981, Jeri Young, a baton twirler for the school, marched wtih the Trojan band at Taft Stadium during a high school...
1970s Majorettes in Atlanta
These 1970s majorettes are clad in quintessential baton twirler gauntlets, tiaras, sequin body suits and tall white boots. This costuming was on trend for the era. Oh, the memories! These twirlers were members of the Luther Judson Price High School Majorette Squad,...
Carol Lites, 1970s
Check out our latest lovely photo restoration! This is Carol Lites in the 1970s during a photo shoot at the park district where she learned to twirl baton. Isn't the long fringe on her costume great!? We love it. All of us here at the Vintage Twirler miss chainette...
E. J. Campbell Drill Team, 1954
E.J. Campbell High School (Nacodoches County, Texas) Drill Team poses for a picture in front of the school, 1954. Click here to learn more about this picture.
Warren Bass | Mizzou Feature Twirler, National Champion (1943-1990)
In 1960, Warren Bass wowed the fans on Mizzou's Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium as the drum major for Sumner High School, St. Louis, Missouri. The occasion was Mizzou’s High School Band Day. At the time, Bass had never had professional baton twirling lessons and...
Savannah State College Majorette (1983)
A Savannah State College majorette performs during the 1983 Homecoming Game. SSC changed its name to Savannah State University in the late 1990s. Located in Savannah, Georgia, it is one of 107 HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) in the United States....
Thank you!
Miss Daisy Tinsley, Majorette, Tuskegee High School, 1950
Recorded Histories
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information using sound recordings of interviews with people having personal knowledge of past events. If you would like to share your personal oral history of baton twirling, please let us know. We are available to conduct interviews every Friday. Interviews will be available on this website. Once a substantial number of interviews have been conducted, they will be presented in podcast format. Nothing will be published without the interviewee’s written consent. Thank you for helping preserve the history of baton twirling.
Vintage Ephemera
Baton twirling ephemera refers to things like programs, posters, patches, stickers, magazines, newsletters, and other things typically written or printed that were used for a specific period of time.
Majorette Memories
We welcome high-quality scans of your vintage baton twirling ephemera. You can also receive items through the mail. We’ll digitally preserve your memories in high-quality scans. Thank you so much for supporting this project.
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Rare Merchandise
Once or twice a year we will offer a commemorative item or rare keepsake for sale such as a sticker, patch, pin or T-shirt, etc. All proceeds will help offset the cost of this project, which includes the cost to acquire rare and/or copyrighted materials.
We will offer our first piece of merchandise on World Baton Twirling Day, April 10, which is also the the official launch day for The Vintage Twirler. Please sign up for updates below so you don’t miss our annoucement. Thank you so much for your interest in this project.