A Visit to the Museum - I

This is the first of a series of articles to appear in Drum Corps World highlighting the Marching Pageantry Arts Museum, currently located at the historic Archer-Epler VFW Post 979, 6736 Marshall Road, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. Bill Ives is President, CEO, and archivist of the museum corporation, an IRS 501(c)(3) charitable corporation. Cash donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and may be made payable to:

Marching Pageantry Arts Museum c/o Bill Ives
1024 Second Avenue
Media, PA 19063

The museum is currently open on Monday evenings by appointment only. Bill can be reached by e-mail at ivesbill@mac.com of at (610) 937-6555.

The museum was registered with the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a non-profit, non-stock corporation on May 14, 2009, and notified of its official charitable tax exempt status as a public charity by the US Internal Revenue Service on May 9, 2022, retroactive to its application date of August 11, 2021.

Long-term plans for the museum call for a separate, dedicated structure to house the current and growing collection of 445 uniforms, 260 shakos and hats, 270 corps jackets, and many pieces of artwork, program books, audio and video recordings, and publications; an ever expanding total of over 30,000 items accumulated since 1990. In addition to the various display halls, the building would include a small auditorium, a full sized enclosed field (which could be used for climate controlled exhibitions, contests, and as a rental rehearsal site that could even accommodate parties, weddings, and the like). Such a structure is expected to cost several millions of dollars which would include property acquisition, architectural design and construction costs, warehousing and storage facilities, and even transportation equipment to make the museum mobile for various events, such as championship contests, conferences, and circuit meetings.

The museum has recently released its inaugural annual report, documenting the first 30 years of the museum’s history. It is dedicated to “anyone who marched in step – a museum celebrating the unsung people and performers who designed, produced, taught, and educated any performer willing to put in the long hours of practice, for the glory of applause, a trophy, or satisfaction with a better performance than the day before.”

The 54-page report contains numerous maps charts, and graphs enumerating, among other things, a master list of associations and circuits with their years of activity and areas served, VFW and American Legion junior and senior (all-age) champions, corps with a color in their name, corps with a city in their name (not all did!), and even a list of corps with a saint’s name in their name. Many of these graphics, accumulated from numerous sources, cover areas outside of the United States and Canada. The report also discusses the full history and planned future of the collection.

Popularly referred to as “the drum corps museum” the facility is also the home of, and hopes to continue to expand its collection of artifacts from the competitive high school and college marching band and colorguard activities, i.e., to represent all aspects of the marching arts. The members of the museum Board of Directors have a vast array of experience in these marching arts. The members include:

William R. “Bill” Ives – President, CEO Tony Arena – Treasurer

Dr. Mark Fulcomer

George W. Growcott – In-house Assistant Dr. Debby Hines – Grant Writer

Chris Maher – Photographer Stephen D. Vickers – Publisher

In addition, the following volunteer associates fulfill other responsibilities:

Stephan M. Anderman – Publicist Phil Bigelow – Webmaster

Amy Chess – Administrative Asssistant Tom Norton – Information Technician John Kozak – Research Ambassador Terry Shaw – Administrative Assistant Hayley Shiroff – Social Media

Bob Zinko – Mentor

Many others volunteer their time as musicologists, research assistants, in-house and remote assistants, uniform fitters, educators, and consultants.

Bill has been a Member of the Pennsylvania Drum Corps Hall of Fame since 2005 and was inducted into the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame as an Associate Member in 2018. Several of his articles on the collection have appeared in Drum Corps World and Halftime magazine. A feature story on the museum in the Philadelphia Inquirer was picked up by the Associated Press and published in 80 news outlets in the United States, Canada, China, India, Iran, and Taiwan.

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In the 32 years since the collection was started, Bill has recorded the history of the Archer-Epler Musketeers from 1932 to present, organized 90 exhibitions in eight states and Canada, and accumulated the largest such collection in the United States and Canada, starting with only eight uniforms, six photo albums, and 10 group photos. He has collaborated with Drum Corps World Publisher Steve Vickers, Bob Zinko, Chris

Maher, and Tom Norton to create a master list of 16,000 drum corps. He has interviews with many notable drum corps personalities and inspired other corps historians to do research on their own corps. The museum has acquired the Linda Shoemaker music collection, totaling 6,000 items, and the largest collection of drum corps history books.

410 donors have contributed memorabilia, most recently, at a ceremony at the DCA Championship, September 4, 2022, in Rochester, New York. There, the museum received a 1974 uniform of DCI Finalist Auburn Purple Lancers, presented by John Morabito, son of the late corps director Nate Morabito; a framed poster of Dutch Boy from their pre-DCI finalist days, presented by Denise MacKinnon, an original Fusion Core uniform, presented by Nick Carlson on behalf of Fusion Core Director Holly Marino.

Most recently, the museum received a Drum Corps East Finalist Flag from 1982, originally given to St. Ignatius all-girl corps, donated by Michael Graziose in memory of his father, Donald Graziose; and a set of lips used by the North Star colorguard during the corps’ performance of Sir Duke, donated by Laurie Shannon.

In the coming months, this column will document many of the other donors and their donations which have helped build the museum collection. Also highlighted, will be some of the more interesting items that are part of the collection, upcoming exhibitions where portions of the collection will be available for viewing, and the individuals in the trenches who volunteer their time and make the articles presentable.

The Marching Pageantry Arts Museum – “A story worth telling and worth knowing”