Bob Roberts (1917-1969), a nationally known baton twirler and former Los Angeles Rams drum major, made roller-skating baton twirling one of his specialties. Despite countless newspaper references to Roberts performing on skates, I have yet to find a photograph of him doing it — one of the...
Harry Blake, NMHU Feature Twirler, 1958-1963, performs a flying straddle split with baton toss, 1958. This signature athletic move showcased the strength and showmanship of the era’s top male baton twirlers. (Photo courtesy of NMHU; restored gently with AI software.) 1962 Men’s...
Today’s Vintage Twirler Photo: A Baton Twirler and His Dog. This photo, which is available on eBay, was taken around 1952. No other information is available. This is a scan of the original Below is a version restored with AI tools and software. Which do you prefer?
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...
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...
Cloin H. Watts was one of Globe High School’s most accomplished performers of the early 1950s, earning statewide recognition while still a student. Born in 1936, he began competing at a young age and quickly distinguished himself. By 1952, he had won the Arizona state championship, and he repeated...
Walter Aldine “W.A.” Thomason, was a talented drum major, twirler and tumbler for North Carolina State University. His earliest recorded performance at the University was in 1940. According to Ancestry.com, Thomason was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1920 and died in 1989. He...
Brown University students Robert Hackett (1919-2003), Class of 1941, and Kenneth M. Greene (1920-2021), Class of 1942, pose with guest majorette Betty Brown Lee, 1942. Brown was an Ice Capades star. Photo Source: Brown University Alumni Magazine. Photo published with permission. Here is another...
Please check out our newest page, Mark Nash, A Living Legend. Click here to see it now. In case anyone is wondering, pages provide better design features than posts while posts allow for categorizing and tagging. Thus, we published this content as a page but want to take advantage of...
Before Narada Michael Walden became a famous American drummer, singer, songwriter, and record producer he was drum major for the Plainwell High School Marching Band, Plainwell, Michigan. Walden is best known for his work behind some of the biggest pop and R&B hits of the 1980s and 1990s. He...
The following article is reprinted with permission from the Chicago Sun Times. It was originally published on April 22, 2015. Before World War II, baton twirling was dominated by men. And Gene Shea was one of the best. He twirled across the nation and in Canada, Ireland, Korea and Japan. He met...
Willard Everett Roth was born in 1892 in Warren, Pennsylvania, and died at the age of 80 in Palenville, New York. As a young child, in 1898-99, he was the drum major in his father’s marching band. The Roth Band marched in parades including the parade and reception escorting soldiers home...
