Written by George Fennell. Copyright 2006.
1929 American Legion National Championship
The eleventh annual American Legion national convention was held in Louisville, KY from Monday, September 30
thru Thursday, October 3, 1929.
Wisconsin’s top three American Legion drum and bugle corps, Beloit‘s Myron C. West Post No. 48, Fond du Lac’s
Major A. M. Trier Post No. 75 and Racine’s Post 76 all left for Louisville with high hopes.
“The men are determined to bring credit to Beloit and to the drum and bugle corps organization,” stated Beloit’s
American Legion Post Commander Gilman H. Stordock according to an article in the Monday, September 30, 1929
Beloit Daily News. In this same article he further stated, “We will meet stiff competition in the Racine and Miami drum
corps, but we expect to give them ‘a run for the money’.”
The Racine Times-Call’s Tuesday, October 1, 1929 edition featured an article on its front page detailing the Racine
Boys of 76’s trip to the American Legion National Convention in Louisville, KY with a headline that boasted “Boys of ’
76 Confident of Triumphing Again.” This same article stated “If the Boys of 76, Racine’s American Legion Post 76’s
drum and bugle corps, do not return to the snow country with another American Legion championship to brag about,
it will not be through any lack of sacrifice and effort.”
Why even the October 1, 1929 Tuesday morning edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal contained an article
featuring the Racine Boys of 76 drum and bugle corps with the following headline; “Boys of ’76 Are Here. Racine
Outfit With Crack Drum and Bugle Corps Expects to Capture Prize.”
In contrast to Beloit and Racine, the Fond du Lac drum and bugle corps was quietly confident. The Fond du Lac
drum and bugle corps was very focused and most eager to compete. They were among the first drum and bugle
corps to make their arrangements to attend the 1929 American Legion national convention in Louisville, KY. This
gave them a long time to plan and prepare for this competition. They practiced long and hard. As a result the Fond
du Lac drum and bugle corps left for Louisville with a lot of confidence. They felt that they would do very well in
national competition there.
At least one other Wisconsin American Legion Post drum and bugle corps went to Louisville to attend the 1929
American Legion national convention. The 56 member Teddy Budlong Post No. 39 drum and bugle corps from
Marinette, WI attended and were quite active at this convention. Their highlight at this convention was playing their
musical program at 6 p.m. Thursday, October 4, 1929, over WHAS, the radio station of The Louisville Courier-
Journal and The Louisville Times.
So, off to Louisville they went.
The Beloit, WI American Legion delegation which included the 44 members of the Beloit drum and bugle corps left
for Louisville, KY on a Milwaukee Road railroad train which left Beloit at 7:10 PM on Sunday night, September 29,
1930. On the way they stopped in Rockford, Illinois where they picked up the Rockford American Legion delegation
which included the members of the Rockford drum and bugle corps. Their train arrived in Louisville bright and early
on Sunday morning.
The Fond du Lac, WI American Legion delegation which included the 40 members of the Fond du Lac drum and
bugle corps left at 10:30 PM Saturday night, September 28, 1929 for Louisville, KY on a Soo Line train chartered by
both the Fond du Lac and the Waukesha, WI American Legion posts. This train, known as the Central Wisconsin
Legion Special, stopped in Waukesha where they picked up the Waukesha American Legion delegation including
the members of the Waukesha American Legion band.
The Central Wisconsin Legion Special arrived at Chicago at 2:45 AM on Sunday, September 29, 1929, where it was
switched to the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and parked near the main part of the Union Depot. This
scheduled stop permitted the Legionnaires to attend church. The train then left Chicago at 11 AM Sunday over the
Pennsylvania Railroad tracks and arrived in Louisville, KY at 7 PM Sunday night.
The Racine delegation of legionnaires which headed for the annual national convention of the American Legion in
Louisville, KY totaled 125. Of this number 65 were connected with the Boys of ‘76 drum and bugle corps.
The members of the Racine drum and bugle corps met at Memorial Hall in downtown Racine early Sunday morning,
October 29, 1929, attired in their O. D. travel uniforms. They marched to the railway station and boarded the
Chicago & Northwestern special train. The Racine legionnaires special train then left Racine at 8 a.m. At Kenosha,
eleven miles South of Racine, the special Racine train hooked up to the Kenosha special which carried about 80
delegates including members of their band. The two contingents then proceeded to Louisville, KY and arrived there
on schedule at 6 p.m. that night.
Some 40,000 legionnaires had registered at the national American Legion convention by the time that the
registration booths had closed on Monday.
Monday’s opening session of the national convention began at 9 a.m. and was held at the Jefferson County
Armory. Before the invocation, however, music was provided first by the Costello Post drum and bugle corps of
Washington followed by the Thomas Hopkins Post band of Wichita, Kansas and the Harvey W. Seeds Post No. 29
drum and bugle corps of Miami, FL.
The American Legion national convention parade was the center of attraction on Tuesday, October 1, 1929. The
“Big Parade” was the biggest and most colorful public event of this convention.
Headed by ten motorcycle policemen and twelve patrolmen mounted on horses the parade started at 11:30 a.m.
It was estimated that 275,00 viewed the parade. “Without a doubt this is the largest crowd that ever witnessed an
American legion parade,” National Commander Paul V. McNutt declared according to an article in the Louisville
Courier-Journal the next day.
Down from the roofs of buildings along the parade route poured a rain of torn paper, feathers and confetti on the
units as they marched by. The crowd stood at least four deep along the entire parade route, backed by crowded
porches, balconies and roofs. National Guardsmen and the police had to continually herd the sea of spectators
from the street back onto the sidewalk.
The crowd did not thin until the parade was finished more than five hours later.
More than 30,000 legionnaires took part in the parade which also included around 100 floats and some 129 bands
and drum corps.
The Racine American Legion Post 76’s float “Spirit of ’76/Spirit of ’18”, which had won first prize every year since
1923, was again judged the winning float in the 1929 American Legion national convention’s big parade in
Louisville. The Louisville Times, one of the leading newspapers in the city, ran two photos of the float, one of the
front portion and the other of the rear portion of the float. Under the headline “The Most Striking Float in Legion’s
Five-Mile Parade” that paper said:
“There was perhaps no argument that the Racine, WI, float, with its living bronze figures, was the most beautiful in
the parade. At the front of the float were three soldiers representing the Spirit of ‘76 and at the back were two,
posed with guns, representing the Spirit of ‘18. In maintaining their positions these vets had one of the most difficult
roles of all the thousands in the line of march.”
The drum and bugle corps semi-finals and finals contests were both held on Wednesday, October 2, 1929.
A total of $1,750 prize money was awarded in the drum and bugle corps competition. First prize for drum corps was
$1,000, second prize was $500 while third prize was $250. The same prizes were also awarded in the band
competition.
Semi-finals for drum and bugle corps began at 9 a.m. at Maxwell Field, Louisville’s Male High School Football Field.
There was a departure from the rules which governed previous competitions. The original plan was for the judges
to pick the 10 best drum and bugle corps in the parade and have them compete in a semi-finals on Wednesday
morning. Then the top five drum and bugle corps from semi-finals were to compete in finals on Wednesday night for
the American Legion national championship. However, there was no selection of drum corps for the semi-finals
chosen by the judges during Tuesday’s big parade. This change of plans was necessary because of the crowded
condition of the streets during Tuesday’s parade. So instead of judges in the parade reviewing stand during
Tuesday’s parade picking the drum corps to compete in Wednesday‘s semi-finals, it was decided to let all 118 of the
attending drum corps compete. As a result 85 drum corps turned out to compete in the semi-finals for the 10 spots
in the Wednesday night finals. The 118 drum corps at the convention were the most that ever attended an American
Legion national convention.
This change in the program caused considerable confusion. After the parade Tuesday night newspapers and drum
corps fans from throughout the country wanted to find out who was selected from the parade to compete in the semi-
finals. Mostly there was disappointment as few knew of the altered plans and they couldn’t understand why they
couldn’t find out what drum corps made semi-finals or not.
Interestingly, under the original plan if the Fort Dodge, IA drum and bugle corps would have been one of the ten
drum corps picked from the parade to compete in the semi-finals they wouldn’t have made it into the finals. Only the
top five drum corps from the semi-finals were to advance to finals. Fort Dodge, IA placed seventh in the semi-finals.
They placed second in finals.
Prior to the semi-finals on Wednesday morning the judges had each of the 85 drum corps draw for their turn to
appear in the competition. Each drum corps was allowed five minutes on the field. A crowd of some 3,000
spectators were on hand to watch semi-finals.
The Harvey W. Seeds Post No. 29 of Miami, FL was considered a top contender as they had won the previous two
American Legion national championships: 1927 in Paris, France and 1928 in San Antonio, TX. and they placed
fourteenth in the semi-finals.
The Boys of 76, the 1929 Wisconsin American Legion state champions, had one of the best equipped drum and
bugle corps at the convention and they were also considered a top contender for the national championship.
Proof that the Boys of 76 was considered a serious contender for the national championship as in previous years is
shown by the action taken by the Miami, FL drum corps to keep the Boys of 76 from even competing at this contest.
The Miami drum corps representatives got Walter E. McDougle, chairman of the trophy and awards committee, out
of bed to protest Racine’s ability to play regular music. But Jack Costello, president of the Racine drum corps, had
been prepared for that. He had received a ruling from McDougle on July 15th which said that the instruments of the
Racine drum corps were satisfactory as long as they weren’t changed in the middle of music that they were playing.
Racine was the only drum and bugle corps which was able to play “real music.“ Among the music that they played
were “America” and “Over There.” They were considered a year ahead of their time and it was predicted that
scores of drum and bugle corps would be playing similar bugles next year.
Racine’s Boys of 76 drew the 70th position and didn’t go on until 3:30 in the afternoon. They scored 92.40 and
finished in fifteenth place.
The Beloit drum and bugle corps drew the 29th position. Of the first 30 drum corps that competed in the semi-finals
on Wednesday morning, Beloit’s score, which was over 90 points, placed them in the top ten up to that point.
Unfortunately, after the remaining corps competed that afternoon, the Beloit drum corps score was not high enough
to keep them in the top ten and make finals. It was believed by the Beloit drum and bugle corps that the only reason
that they didn’t place in the top ten and make finals was because of their comparatively small size.
The Fond du Lac drum corps had a score of 89 in the semi-finals which also was not high enough for them to place
among the top 10 and make finals.
By comparison, the Frankford Post No. 211 drum and bugle corps of Philadelphia, PA had the highest semi-finals
score which was 95.60.
By the way, Miami, FL, missed making finals too. They placed fourteenth in the semi-finals.
The ten corps that made finals were: Fort Dodge, IA, Rockford, IL, Kankakee, IL, Long Beach, CA, Salem, OR,
Frankford, PA, Elyria, OH, Commonwealth-Edison Post of Chicago, Los Angeles, CA and Faribault, MN.
The American Legion National Championship Finals took place Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Parkway Field.
Approximately 17,000 people viewed the championship contest.
Frankford Post No. 211 of Philadelphia, Pa won first place with a score of 98.525. Second place was captured by
the Fort Dodge, Iowa, Post No. 130 which scored 98.100. Commonwealth-Edison Post No. 118 of Chicago, IL was
third with 97.550 points and fourth place went to the Los Angeles, CA, Post with a score of 97.450.
The other seven drum corps in the finals contest finished in the following order: Salem, OR; Rockford, IL; Elyria,
OH; Faribault, MN; Kankakee, IL and Long Beach, CA.
Eleven bands competed for the American Legion National Championship on Wednesday, October 2, 1929 too.
They were judged on drilling and on the performance of their selections. A bandstand was erected on Belknap
Campus of the University of Louisville for the contest. These are the results: Electric Post Band of Milwaukee, WI
earned first place with a score of 96.39 just nosing out the second place Columbus, Ohio Band who scored 96.21.
The band from Kenosha, WI took third with 94.96 points while the 1928 American Legion National Champion Band
from Wichita, Kansas came in fourth with a score of 94.58.
Both the Beloit and Rockford drum and bugle corps along with non-members of the drum corps and members of
their Auxiliary left Louisville together on its homeward journey by train Thursday night, October 3, 1929. Their train
arrived in Indianapolis at 7 a.m. on Friday morning, October 4, 1929. After stopping there and eating breakfast,
both drum and bugle corps marched in a parade through the business district of Indianapolis to the national
headquarters of the American Legion. A visit was also paid to the Indiana War Memorial. Their train then left
Indianapolis at 1 o’clock in the afternoon that same Friday. Both the Beloit and the Rockford delegation of
Legionnaires reached their respective home towns later Friday night. The Beloit drum and bugle corps arrived in
Beloit at 9:50 p.m. Friday night. After disembarking from the train, the Beloit drum corps marched in full uniform
from the train station through the business district of Beloit before it disbanded and its members left for their homes.
The Fond du Lac drum and bugle corps along with the Waukesha Band and the Milwaukee Girls’ Band left on the
same special train that carried them there. They left Louisville at 2:30 a.m. Friday, October 4, 1929. They returned
by way of Indianapolis. Stopping at Indianapolis Friday morning, all three units then took part in Friday’s parade
through the business district of Indianapolis to the national headquarters of the American Legion. Leaving
Indianapolis shortly after the parade was over, the Fond du Lac drum and bugle corps arrived home at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, October 4, 1929. Immediately after arriving in Fond du Lac the drum corps paraded the principal business
streets before disbanding and its members left for their homes.
The Racine delegation including their drum and bugle corps arrived back in Racine at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday,
October 5, 1929. The drum and bugle corps marched from the Chicago & Northwestern train station to Memorial
Hall in downtown Racine where they disbanded and went to their homes.
The following Sunday, October 13, 1929, the Boys of 76 drum and bugle corps took part in Milwaukee’s big
Columbus Day parade. Racine’s Boys of 76 drum and bugle corps won first place honors while the Beloit drum and
bugle corps took second place.
Winner of the first prize at the 1929 American Legion’s national convention in Louisville, KY, Milwaukee’s Electric
Post’s band was given first place for the best band in this parade. Second place was awarded to the Milwaukee
Eagle’s Club band.
Cups were awarded to the winners.