From The New Yorker, June, 2011

MUSIC.  The Washington Post March by John Phillip Sousa, performed by the US Marine Band:

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor  @ Blogfinger    (Reprinted with permission of me from the OG Record Online, October, 2008.)

Painting of John Phillip Sousa at the HSOG. Photo courtesy of HSOG

Just when you thought that it was safe to read the Record without finding another article on Sousa, we discovered another Sousa/Ocean Grove connection. We learned that a life sized painting of the “March King” was hanging in the Historical Society of Ocean Grove (HSOG) Museum. This little known tidbit was important enough to be mentioned in Paul Bierley’s new book on Sousa, so off we went down Pitman Avenue to check it out. After all, Sousa was probably the earliest musical celebrity to visit Ocean Grove…one of the first of a long list that includes Caruso, Marion Anderson, Ellington, Sinatra, and Robeson.

Sousa (1854-1932) was a superstar in his day, a world famous conductor and composer, who played many concerts in the Great Auditorium, starting in August 1910. We know that he had been banished from the Grove in 1926 due to a musical faux pas and we also know that his music has lived on here, but what if a significant and tangible piece of his history actually resided here?

Although the HSOG was officially closed for winter, Ms. Susan Roach, the administrative assistant, unlocked the door and let us in.  She directed us to the back of the museum, and there, looking down, was the great man himself. The painting is a fine portrait framed in gold. It shows Sousa when he was about 50 years old, resplendent in an elaborate military uniform with ornate black braids on the fabric, gold decorations on the collar and sleeves, and three hanging medals.  His beard and mustache are still dark with some gray, and his pince-nez spectacles cling precariously on the bridge of his nose.

We looked into the story of how this rare work found its way to Ocean Grove and we found a fascinating tale that includes history, mystery, oddities, an old mansion, an unknown painter and one euphonium player. It is a story of intrigue sans sex but with plenty of quarter notes and piccolos.  It is about a 5’4”man who looks taller in the painting and who wears a medal from the Spanish American war; a conflict that he missed due to a case of typhus. And finally it is about a conductor who wouldn’t let his musicians tap their toes (unless they did it discreetly, inside their shoes). Sousa was a beloved band master whose bandsmen and women traveled with him around the world and to hundreds of towns and cities in this country, and even after he died, they would have reunions where they would fondly reminisce about him, and these reunions still go on to this day..

From 1927-1996, Ocean Grove was reminded of Sousa only by the performances in the Auditorium where his music was often played by various groups. The Allentown Band had been appearing annually at the Great Auditorium for Independence Day concerts, and in the early 1990’s, they played a series of “Great Sousa Concerts” here.  Whenever they come to town, the HSOG sell their “I am a Sousa fan” fans which provide moving hot air for the audience and a unique souvenir for the occasion.  The fan fans can still be purchased at the HSOG.

In 1996, one of the HSOG members, Neil Chambers, was browsing at Barron’s auctioneers in Asbury Park when she spotted the painting. At first she thought that the distinguished looking Victorian military man was Teddy Roosevelt. He had visited Ocean Grove twice, and she thought that the painting could be the centerpiece of a Historical Society program featuring Teddy and the Rough Riders. When she found out that it was Sousa, she bought the piece anyway. She then embarked on a research project to investigate his connection to Ocean Grove and she called her quest, “desperately seeking Sousa.”  The alternate title was, “If you knew Sousa like I knew….”

She learned that 1996 was the 100^th anniversary of the writing of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” which is officially, by an act of Congress, America’s March.  She thought that a tribute to Sousa would be fitting in Ocean Grove, so she organized a 100^th Anniversary Sousa celebration here, which was held during the July 4, 1997 holiday. It was sponsored by the HSOG and included a tour of 16 homes and 4 inns on Ocean Pathway, a concert, a parade, and a book signing at the Albatross by Mr. Paul Bierley. The money raised was used to reimburse Ms. Chambers so that the painting could be owned by the HSOG.

The story of the painting begins after Sousa’s death. A euphonium player from Sousa’s band named John Perfetto commissioned the work in the early 1930’s. The painter’s name is Angelo DiVincenzo, but no information is available about him, even after searches at the Library of Congress, the National Portrait Gallery and art archives in Italy. The painter used a photograph of Sousa taken during a 1904 or 1905 European tour, but we don’t even know where the work was painted. Later, it hung in the offices of local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians in New York City, but somehow it  wound up in Asbury Park at Barron’s Auction House. The precise journey taken by the portrait is unclear, but the road seems to lead to Long Branch, New Jersey.

Arthur Pryor was a Sousa musician and he was considered to be the greatest trombonist ever. He was the Assistant Director of the Sousa band before he set up his own band which subsequently played for more than 20 summers in Asbury Park. He retired to Long Branch and lived in a mansion designed by the famous architect Stanford White. He lived in that house with his wife Pricilla Mitchell, the daughter of the Broadway director Julian Mitchell (The Wizard of Oz, Babes in Toyland). Subsequently another family bought the mansion, and in 1996, the contents of the house were sold at auction by Barron’s.

It is unclear as to whether the Sousa painting came from that house, but Neil Chambers found the work at Barron’s, so feel free to speculate.  Kevin Chambers, Neil’s son, believes that Pryor probably did own the painting and that somehow it was left in Long Branch after Pryor sold the property.  At any rate, even though Sousa was opposed to Prohibition and was banned from Ocean Grove, his portrait has found a home here.

John Phillip Sousa was a summer hero in Ocean Grove, so it is fitting that his portrait resides right next door to Day’s Ice Cream and within earshot of the Auditorium. It is easy to imagine that Sousa enjoyed ice cream at Day’s and that he must have loved the acoustics in the Great Auditorium. Now, over a century later, on a summer’s evening, as his music drifts through the open doors of the Auditorium and across the park, and despite the mysteries of the journey, we can see that his portrait found its way to just the right place.

Those of you who are interested in Ocean Grove history should go over to the HSOG and check it out.

We must thank those who helped with the research for this article including the intrepid Rhoda Newman (formerly from the HSOG and the Library of Congress) who contacted many sources including the International Tuba and Euphonium Association, the Sousa Archives at the University of Illinois, and Mr. Paul Bierley, author of “The Incredible Band of John Phillip Sousa” (University of Illinois Press 2006). We also thank Mr. Kevin Chambers and Ms. Susan Roach of the HSOG and Mel Goldfinger PhD and trombonist, from the Wright State University Medical School, who alerted us that the painting was in Ocean Grove.

We also encourage the citizens of our historic town to volunteer at the HSOG, and then you can find out why they are the Historical Society and not the Historic Society.