*DRAG: ACTRESS LOUIE FREAR AS JOHN PHILIP SOUSA AMAZING 1901 PHOTO*

Description

An extraordinary original photographic postcard circa 1901, the year John Philip Sousa performed at the Albert Hall, of the renowned West End and Music Hall actress Louisa "Louie" Frear in drag as John Philip Sousa with characteristic beard, cap, and baton. Light wear and postally used otherwise good. See John Philip Sousa's extraordinary biography below.
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From Wikipedia:
John Philip Sousa
(November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late
Romantic era
known primarily for American military
marches
.
[1]
He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to distinguish him from his British counterpart
Kenneth J. Alford
. Among his best-known marches are "
The Stars and Stripes Forever
" (National March of the
United States of America
), "
Semper Fidelis
" (official march of the
United States Marine Corps
), "
The Liberty Bell
", "
The Thunderer
", and "
The Washington Post
".
Sousa began his career playing violin and studying music theory and composition under John Esputa and George Felix Benkert. His father enlisted him in the
United States Marine Band
as an apprentice in 1868. He left the band in 1875, and over the next five years he performed as a violinist and learned to conduct. In 1880 he rejoined the Marine Band, and he served there for 12 years as director, after which he was hired to conduct a band organized by David Blakely, P.S. Gilmore's former agent. Blakely wanted to compete with Gilmore but Sousa never had a band of his own. From 1880 until his death, he focused exclusively on conducting and writing music. Sousa aided in the development of the
sousaphone
, a large brass instrument similar to the
helicon
and
tuba
.
Upon the outbreak of
World War I
, Sousa was awarded a wartime commission of lieutenant commander to lead the Naval Reserve Band in Illinois. He then returned to conduct the Sousa Band until his death in 1932. In the 1920s, he was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant commander in the naval reserve, but he never saw active service again.
John Philip Sousa was born in Washington, D.C., the third of ten children of João António de Sousa (John Anthony Sousa) (September 22, 1824 – April 27, 1892), who was born in Spain to Portuguese parents, and his wife Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus (May 20, 1826 – August 25, 1908), who was German and from
Bavaria
.
[2]
[3]
[4]
He began his music education under the tuition of John Esputa Sr., who taught him
solfeggio
.
[5]
This was short-lived, however, because of the teacher's frequent bad temper.
[5]
His real music education began in 1861 or 1862 as a pupil of John Esputa Jr., the son of his previous teacher under whom Sousa studied violin, piano, flute, several brass instruments, and singing.
[5]
Esputa shared his father's bad temper, and the relationship between teacher and pupil was often strained, but Sousa progressed very rapidly and was also found to have
perfect pitch
.
[5]
He wrote his first composition "An Album Leaf" during this period, but Esputa dismissed it as "bread and cheese" and the composition was subsequently lost.
[5]
His father was a trombonist in the Marine Band, and he enlisted Sousa in the United States Marine Corps as an apprentice at age 13 to keep him from joining a circus band.
[6]
In the same year, he began studying music under George Felix Benkert.
[7]
Sousa was enlisted under a minority enlistment, meaning that he would not be discharged until his 21st birthday.
Career
Sousa completed his apprenticeship in 1875 and began performing on the violin.
[8]
He then joined a theatrical pit orchestra where he learned to conduct.
[8]
He returned to the Marine Band as its head in 1880 and remained as its conductor until 1892. He led "The President's Own" band under five presidents from
Rutherford B. Hayes
to
Benjamin Harrison
. His band played at the
inaugural balls of James A. Garfield
in 1881 and
Benjamin Harrison in 1889
.
[9]
[10]
The marching brass bass or
sousaphone
is a modified
helicon
created in 1893 by Philadelphia instrument maker
J. W. Pepper
at Sousa's request, using several of his suggestions in its design. He wanted a
tuba
that could sound upward and over the band whether its player was seated or marching.
C.G. Conn
recreated the instrument in 1898, and this was the model that Sousa preferred to use.
[11]
"The Washington Post"
MENU
0:00
The United States Marine Band performs "
The Washington Post
"
Problems playing this file? See
media help
.
Sousa organized The Sousa Band the year that he left the Marine Band, and it toured from 1892 to 1931 and performed at 15,623 concerts,
[12]
both in America and around the world,
[13]
including at the
World Exposition
in Paris and at the
Royal Albert Hall
in London.
[3]
[14]
In Paris, the Sousa Band marched through the streets to the
Arc de Triomphe
, one of only eight parades that the band marched in during its 40 years.
[15]
Military service
In 1868,
[16]
Sousa enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 13 as an apprentice musician (his rank listed as "boy").
[3]
He left the Marine Corps in 1875.
[16]
His second period of service began in 1880 and continued until 1892.
[16]
During this period, Sousa led the Marine Band through its development into the country's premier military band.
[3]
[16]
Annual military observances at Sousa's Grave
The
Columbia Phonograph Company
produced 60 recordings of the Marine Band conducted by Sousa which led to his national fame. In July 1892, Sousa requested a discharge from the Marine Corps to pursue a financially promising civilian career as a band leader. He conducted a farewell concert at the
White House
on July 30, 1892 and was discharged from the Marine Corps the next day.
[17]
Sousa was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve on May 31, 1917, shortly after the United States declared war on Germany and entered
World War I
. He was 62 years old, which was the mandatory retirement age for Navy officers. During the war, he led the Navy Band at the
Great Lakes Naval Station
near Chicago,
[3]
[18]
and he donated all of his naval salary except a token per month to the Sailors' and Marines' Relief Fund.
[19]
He was discharged from active duty after the
end of the war
in 1918.
[16]
November 1918 and returned to conducting his own band, but he continued to wear his naval uniform for many of his concerts and other public appearances. In the early 1920s, he was promoted to lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve but did not return to active duty. He frequently wore his Navy uniform during performances for the remainder of his life.
For this service during the war, Sousa received the
World War I Victory Medal
and was elected as a Veteran Companion of the
Military Order of Foreign Wars
. He was also a member
New York Athletic Club
Post 754 of the
American Legion
.
Personal life
John Philip Sousa's grave,
Congressional Cemetery
On December 30, 1879, Sousa married Jane van Middlesworth Bellis (1862–1944),
[3]
and their children were John Philip, Jr. (April 1, 1881 – May 18, 1937), Jane Priscilla (August 7, 1882 – October 28, 1958), and Helen (January 21, 1887 – October 14, 1975).
[20]
All were buried in the John Philip Sousa plot in the Congressional Cemetery. Jane was descended from Adam Bellis who served in the New Jersey troops during the
American Revolutionary War
.
[21]
On March 15, 1881, the "March King" was initiated to the
Scottish Rite Freemasonry
in the Hiram Lodge No. 10, Washington, DC and later became
Master Mason
for 51 years.
[22]
[23]
Late in his life, Sousa lived in
Sands Point, New York
. He died of heart failure at age 77 on March 6, 1932, in his room at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in
Reading, Pennsylvania
. He had conducted a rehearsal of "
The Stars and Stripes Forever
" the previous day with the Ringgold Band as its guest conductor.
[23]
He is buried in Washington, D.C.'s
Congressional Cemetery
.
[24]
His house
Wild Bank
has been designated a National Historic Landmark, although it remains a private home and is not open to the public.
[25]
Sousa has surviving descendants today; one of his great-grandsons, John Philip Sousa IV, works as a political activist for the Republican Party.
[26]
Honors
US Postage stamp issue of 1940
Sousa was decorated with the palms of the
Order of Public Instruction
of Portugal and the
Order of Academic Palms
of France. He also received the
Royal Victorian Medal
from
King Edward VII
of the United Kingdom in December 1901 for conducting a private birthday concert for
Queen Alexandra
.
[27]
[28]
In 1922, he accepted the invitation of the national chapter to become an honorary member of
Kappa Kappa Psi
, the national honorary band fraternity.
[29]
In 1932, he was initiated as an honorary member of
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
, the national fraternity for men in music, by the fraternity's Alpha Xi chapter at the
University of Illinois
.
[30]
[
unreliable source?
]
The
World War II
Liberty Ship
SS
John Philip Sousa
was named in his honor. The ship's bell is in the possession of the Marine Band, and is used in performances of the "Liberty Bell March".
In 1952,
20th Century Fox
honored Sousa in their Technicolor feature film
Stars and Stripes Forever
with
Clifton Webb
portraying him. It was loosely based on Sousa's memoirs
Marching Along
.
[31]
In 1987, an act of Congress named "The Stars and Stripes Forever" as the national march of the United States.
[32]
He was posthumously enshrined in the
Hall of Fame for Great Americans
in 1976.