The Washington Post” (often called “The Washington Post March”) is a march composed by John Philip Sousa in 1889. Since then, it has remained as one of his most popular marches throughout the United States and many other countries.
In 1888, the recent purchasers of The Washington Post newspaper—Frank Hatton, a former Postmaster General, and Beriah Wilkins, a former Democratic congressman from Ohio—requested that Sousa, the leader of the United States Marine Band, compose a march for the newspaper’s essay contest awards ceremony, in conjunction with a campaign to promote the newspaper under new ownership. Sousa obliged; “The Washington Post” was introduced at a ceremony on June 15, 1889, “with President Benjamin Harrison in attendance” before “a huge crowd on the grounds of the Smithsonian Museum”. It quickly became quite popular in both the United States and Europe as the standard musical accompaniment to the two-step, a late 19th-century dance craze. This led to a British journalist dubbing Sousa “The March King”. Sousa is honored in The Washington Post building for his contribution to the newspaper and his country.
The composition is in the public domain in the US, as its copyright has expired, due to Sousa having been dead for more than 70 years and it having been published before the early 1920s.
During the award ceremony the young essay-contest winners were presented with gold medals that were hand-crafted by local jewelers Galt & Bro., with each having unique designs and custom engravings.
The Pulse of Washington D.C.
