Ms. Jill Tutt

Arts & Military Connections: Missouri American Legion Tom Powell Post #77 Celebrates 100 years

Posted by Ms. Jill Tutt, Jul 02, 2019 0 comments


Ms. Jill Tutt

In September 1919, American Legion Tom Powell Post #77 was the first of its kind to become chartered as an all African American Post, decades before the military would desegregate. That same year, the Legion was chartered by Congress. Located in St. Louis, Post #77 will celebrate its 100-year anniversary on September 14, 2019.

The Post is named after Tom Powell, an Army messenger killed in France during World War I. Powell, a Georgia native living on a plantation, made an attempt to enlist in 1917 but was refused by local Army recruiters. He rode a railroad freight car to Chicago where he enlisted in the 8th Illinois—an all-Black regiment. On November 8, 1918, he was killed while carrying messages to the front lines. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Tom Powell Post #77 takes pride in having members who served with distinction with the Tuskegee Airmen, Buffalo Soldiers, Montford Point Marines, and many other distinguished military units. Active service includes World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Afghanistan.

Post members also have a proud history of assisting disabled and unemployed veterans, and a strong legacy of providing community youth arts programs. Tom Powell Post #77 was instrumental in bringing the concept of competitive marching music to the community through the development of the Spirit of St. Louis senior drum and bugle corps, and mentored the famed American Woodmen Cadets junior drum and bugle corps programs. The Tom Powell Post Junior Drum and Bugle Corps was organized on September 1, 1935, to help curb juvenile delinquency in and around the neighborhood and to provide music to the Post members marching in the American Legion parade held in St. Louis.

The Corps as a competitive group won many honors, including perennial Missouri State championships and placing in the top 10 of numerous national conventions. The Corps was the only Black Corps in the country participating in American Legion competition.

In 1941, as the U.S. entered World War II, the Corps disbanded as most of the members entered branches of the service. However, the reputation of the Corps was upheld during the war years 1941-1945 by an all-girl Corps that had been trained by the boys before their departure into service. In 1946, veterans returned home and reorganized a senior Drum and Bugle Corps.

Community youth continue to benefit from music education by Post members. Under the guidance of Bernie Hayes—a St. Louis media icon and the curator for the Don and Heide Wolff Jazz Institute and the National Black Radio Hall of Fame at Harris Stowe State University—a younger group of middle school children have been recruited to participate in the Royal Lancers Drum Corps. The Royal Lancers are directed by retired Colonel Willie Day Jr., a Post member. He has a rich history as a veteran of participating in Drum Corps as a child and young adult, as well as training at-risk inner-city youth in the marching arts. Colonel Day’s personal background also includes time spent marching and playing both drum and horn with The American Woodmen, The Memorial Lancers, and The Spirit of St. Louis Senior Corps.

Famous Tom Powell Post #77 members include Clark Terry, an American swing and bebop trumpeter, pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, composer, educator, and NEA Jazz Masters inductee. Russell Boone, early director of Mississippi Valley University’s music department, also was a member.

Other Post members and Corps alumni are also carrying on the legacy. For summer 2019, George Sams—American Woodmen Cadets alumnus, military brat, and trumpeter—has established a partnership with the City of St. Louis Parks and Recreation Department to provide an Introduction to Orchestra program at three recreation centers located in historic Black neighborhoods. This program has proven to be so successful that it will continue in the fall.


A special thank you to Willie Day, Bernie Hayes, John Jackson, and members of the Tom Powell Post #77 for their contributions to this post.

View Missouri Arts Council’s Art Ease Convening video series here, beginning with #1: “Creating an Arts and Military Community Ecosystem.”

For more information about national arts and military programs, events, and resources, visit the National Initiative for Arts & Health in the Military at Americans for the Arts.

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