Bluford Library – The Legend of the A&T Drum Majors

Leading and stepping into the forefront of every Blue and Gold Marching Machine performance are the drum majors. Planners, choreographers, drill masters and much more, the drum major is the leader of the band and responsible for the showmanship, professionalism, and exciting Aggie Pride that shows in each performance.

Historically drum majors date back to military music practices from the 1600s. As in the military, the drum majors at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University lead a musical army. The Blue and Gold Marching Machine (BGMM) wage war on the halftime battlefield each and every game. The army is well trained to represent and demonstrate Aggie Pride nationwide. Also, an army grows stronger by recruitment. The band is arguably the biggest and most visual recruitment tool in our university’s history. There are countless stories about K-12 students who wanted to know more about band music and North Carolina A&T after seeing the BGMM in action. After performing for their high school bands, many of those young witnesses became Aggie drum majors.

For over 100 years, the Blue and Gold Marching Machine has thrilled generations of patrons. The original “A. And T. College Marching Band” was formed in 1918 under the direction of Prof. William Edward Lew (1865-1949), a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music as a 50-piece ensemble. Since the tradition of a band drum major predates the university, it is possible that there have been drum majors at A&T every year since 1918.

This means the very first Aggie drum majors may be lost to history. One of the first to receive widespread recognition was Phairlever Pearson ‘35. A popular and musically gifted student, Pearson was described as the band’s “proud stepping leader of two seasons” and a “sensation” on the field. From 1932-1934, the band made tours throughout North Carolina and their pictures were published in national newspapers. The band was reinvigorated with new life, highlighted by new uniforms from A&T’s tailoring department. In 1952, he was a school principal in Newton, N.C., while he was chairman of a proposed A&T alumni band reunion for that year’s Homecoming.

A book would be needed to list and honor all of Pearson’s successors. Looking at just some from over 50 years ago, they begin with R. E. Brent, who filled in Pearson for one season, George Bryant, and Willie Blount throughout the 1930s. Hamilton Flowers famously led the A&T Band’s performance at the inauguration of North Carolina Gov. J. Melville Broughton in 1941. Billy Tolles carried the torch while the nation was at war. Walter H. Collins ‘50, a future recipient of the Purple Heart, was our drum major after his World War II service. Eddie McCray led the band into the 1960s, and his successor Benny Davis was believed to be have been the first freshman drum major.

Men were not the only ones to lead the band. While Love Willis was the female to join the band in 1935, and band director Walter F. Carlson did oversee an All-Girls Band in the early 1950s, A&T’s first female drum major was Kellye Worth in 1998. Today she is Dr. Kellye Hall, a medical doctor, and entrepreneur.

Down to present additional drums majors include Eric Winston, Anthony Criss, Chris Goins, D’Javon Alston, Terrell Morton, Solomon Reynolds and Bentley Tanner. Dr. Kenneth Ruff master director of today’s mighty Blue and Gold Marching Machine was also an Aggie drum major.

The A&T Alumni Band was established in 1976 and has united generations of drum majors for performances.

Like Dr. Ruff and Eric Winston, A&T drum majors also become teachers and leaders of multiple music communities. For decades band conferences like the former North Carolina Negro Bandmasters Association (NCNBMA) have taken place on the A&T campus to train school and college-aged players. Many of our current BGGM players attended the North Carolina A&T summer band camps as children, and went to football games with family and friends, and imagined themselves taking the proud steps of the Blue and Gold Drum major.

In another context, a “drum major” is also a symbolic term for a trailblazing and courageous leader who encourages and awakens others. A&T Four legend Dr. Franklin McCain and community doctor/activist Dr. George Simkins Jr., were called “drum majors for justice” in our community. Raschaad Haggard, a political science senior in 2006 once called Dr. Ronald McNair a “drum major for excellence.”

Information for this story comes from the Music-Band-Arts Collections in the University Archives. These collections include band histories, photographs, and music programs. Additional research on the drum majors comes from reports in historical black newspapers, and thesis on HBCU bands.

More information is wanted about former A&T drum majors, especially any before 1931. Archives would also like more information on the earliest women in the band like Love Willis, and Yvonne Porter who led the All Girls Band in the early 1950s. For more about this story or other topics in A&T history please write to libraryarchives@ncat.edu, visit our website at https://www.ncat.edu/library/archives/index.php, or our Archives and Special Collections LibGuide.