HBCU Bands: Marching 100 and Marching 101 set for showdown

This Saturday’s MEAC vs SWAC matchup in Tallahassee, FL will not only feature two traditional football rivals, the Florida A&M (FAMU) Rattlers and South Carolina State (SC State) Bulldogs, but it will also feature a top-tier HBCU band battle at halftime. The FAMU Marching 100 will square off against the SC State Marching 101. Starting with the names, it already brings about a mythical comparison.

Dr. William P. Foster took over the marching bands at FAMU in 1946.  At the time, FAMU’s band was a military band, much like many in HBCU.  It was very stiff and precise.  Foster developed and patented 30 new moves for the marching band that have become standard in most marching bands, especially an HBCU band.  Dr. Shelby Chipman currently leads the Marching 100.

In 1918, South Carolina State University began its marching band.  It began with military drills and assisted with Sunday school.  Dr. William H. Jackson was the school’s first director of bands.  Currently, Dr. Patrick Moore leads the band.  He took the reigns in 2018.

The story of Marching 100 and Marching 101

The interesting thing about the name Marching 100 is that the band never had 100 members. The band was smaller than 50 pieces when Foster took over. His goal was to get up to 100 musicians, thus the name Marching 100 came to fruition. However, the band went from about 80 members to about 115 members and has grown at times to over 400 members. Never did it stop at 100 members.

Talking with several sources, the name difference is not pinpointed to one scenario, but two major ones.  The first scenario centers around two brothers.  Longtime FAMU band arranger Dr. Lindsey Sarjeant, who also serves as chairman of the FAMU Department of Music, has a brother who was band director for SCSU from 1976 to 2004.  This period saw a rise in the profile of the band.  Dr. Ronald Sarjeant would claim that the SCSU band was one step above FAMU’s renowned band, so he gave them the name Marching 101.

The second scenario is that SCSU’s band had 100 members. When they added a lone majorette to the squad, it took on the name Marching 101.

Moore laughs at the number of stories he’s heard about how the name came about.  “I’ve even heard some more stories recently.  I am not sure anyone can nail down a definitive answer,” he said.

However, research finds that Southern University previously was named the Marching 132 and Marching 150 before settling on their current and most popular name “The Human Jukebox.”

She taught the band to dance

In the late 1950s, Foster went to the Dean of the School of Music and announced sweeping new additions to the band.  One of which has defined marching bands to this day.  Breaking from the pure precision nature of the military bands, Foster would garner the assistance of the school’s dance instructor, Dr. Beverly Barber.  She would teach the band dance moves while Foster picked and chose what he wanted them to perform.  This was documented by Ebony magazine and is considered the first time a band would break traditional marching precision to perform jazz and popular dancing.

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