What Does the Washington Post March Have to Do with Dupont Circle?
John Kelley’s June 14, 2014 article in the Washington Post (“Here’s the story behind Sousa’s famous ‘Washington Post March’”) marked the 125th anniversary of the first public performance of what might be considered the city’s very own anthem.
How does such an American and Washington, DC institution as that march have any relationship to the Dupont Circle neighborhood? Well, there is a connection.
In 1889, Beriah Wilkins, a Civil War veteran and three-time congressman from Ohio, along with former Postmaster General Frank Hatton, purchased the Washington Post newspaper from Stilson Hutchins. Wilkins served as its editor until his death in 1905. To promote the newspaper, Wilkins and Hatton asked the leader of the Marine Band, John Philip Sousa, to compose a march for the newspaper’s essay contest awards ceremony. Sousa composed “The Washington Post March,” which remains one of his best-known works. Wilkins bought out Hatton’s share of the newspaper in 189…
