John Heney Collection

Individual Collection name: John Heney Collection

Repository name: Special Collections in Performing Arts,
Performing Arts Library, University of Maryland

Type: Papers and documents

Collection dates: 1885 to 1978. The bulk of the materials fall between 1926 and 1976.

Extent: 4.75 linear feet

Description: The John Heney Collection contains materials relating to Heney's career with the John Philip Sousa Band and his interest in preserving Sousa's memory after the band leader's death. Heney's involvement in music education is also closely documented through the materials in the collection.

Statement of provenance: Gift of Mrs. Heney in December 1978. In accordance with an agreement with Mr. Heney, his Sousa Band uniform was used in an open house at the ABA Research Center the last week of January, 1979 in commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the American Bandmaster's Association, and then sent to the Marine Museum at the U.S. Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

Finding Aid: An unpublished finding aid by Jennifer Thompson is available. [View Online]

SCPA shelf location: SCPA Collections Room, Aisle C

Access: Materials from this collection must be used in the Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room, 10 to 5, Monday through Friday. Please make an appointment with the curator.

Biography: The Sousa Band percussionist, music educator, and historian, John Joseph Heney, Sr. was born in 1903. Heney's professional band career began in 1924, when he joined the Royal Scotch Highlanders Band. He stayed with the Highlanders until 1925, when he joined McDonald's Highlanders Band (The Kilties). He remained with The Kilties until 1926, when he joined the John Philip Sousa Band. Heney performed with the Sousa Band during its last six years, as one of three drummers and xylophone soloist. During this time, the Sousa Band was not the only one to enjoy Heney's company, however. Heney also performed with the Sells-Floto Circus Band (aka Montgomery’s Concert Band), the Bertram W. Mills’ Olympia Circus Band, the Sparks Circus Band, the Hagenback-Wallace Circus Band, the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus Band, the Medinah Circus and Carnival Band, the Tom Mix Circus and Wild West Show.

The same year Heney joined the Sousa Band, he moved to St. Augustine, Florida, where he became the Band Director at Ketterlinus High School. Also during 1926, Heney became the Bandmaster at Stetson University, a position that lasted until 1935, when he became Bandmaster at DeLand High School in DeLand, Florida. His employment as Bandmaster at DeLand lasted 32 years.

While Bandmaster at DeLand, Heney was also active in the National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD), the American Bandmasters Association (ABA), and the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA), of which he was made an honorary life president in 1941.

As his band directing career flourished, Heney still had time for other pursuits, such as running Heney's Superior Service Station, a local gas station, and the Heney School of Percussion, a private drum studio from which Heney gave lessons. In 1934, Heney also wrote and published a book, entitled The Correct Way to Drum: A Treatise on the Material Used in Modern Drumming. Besides The Correct Way to Drum, Heney also published 23 musical compositions and a number of journal articles in his lifetime. In addition, Heney spent time in the United States Navy during World War II from 1942 until 1945.

A member of the Sousa Band Fraternal Society, Heney was elected as archivist in November of 1969. During his time as archivist, Heney attempted to collect and preserve as much of the memorabilia from Sousa's life and the history of the Sousa Band and its members as was left in the personal collections ofm other Sousa Band members and their families. He attempted to ensure that Sousa's memory and music were remembered by consulting on projects to record Sousa's music in the present day and by pushing for Sousa's induction into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. Heney died on September 1, 1978.

Series Arrangement:
Series I: Correspondence
Series II: Newspaper Clippings
Series III: Newspapers
Series IV: Journals
Series V: Printed Music
Series VI: Miscellanous Publications
Series VII: Programs
Series VIII: Photographs
Series IX: Contracts
Series X: Diaries
Series XI: Scrapbooks
Series XII: Yearbooks
Series XIII: Memorabilia
Series XIV: Sound Recordings

Series Description:
Series I, Correspondence, is organized by correspondent. There are letters to and from family and friends in the collection. Also included in the correspondence are letters relating to John Philip Sousa, letters to and from members of the American Bandmaster's Association, the Florida Bandmasters' Association, the Sousa Band Fraternal Society and Archives, and the American School Band Directors' Association, Inc. The series also contains correspondence with fellow members and directors of the various circus bands in which Heney performed. Raymond F. Dvorak, Harold B. Bachman, and Edward Wall ("Eddie"), in particular, figure prominently in this series. Important topics include the American Bandmaster's Association's Sousa Memorial, an attempt by the Association, the Sousa Band Fraternal Society, and the International Sousa Society, Inc. to induct John Philip Sousa into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. Heney's employment as archivist of the Sousa Band Fraternal Society Archives is also noted through correspondence with donors, potential donors, and researchers. Heney's correspondence with Mac E. Carr, Chairman of the American School Band Directors' Association was an attempt to collaborate with Heney in the production of a sound recording, The Sounds of John Philip Sousa, volume II.

Series II, Newspaper Clippings, comprises articles relating to the Heney Superior Service Station in St. Augustine, Florida and John Philip Sousa's life and music. Sousa's musical comedy El Capitan is also discussed. Congressional Cemetery, where Sousa was buried, is also mentioned here. The Washington Post is the only identifiable source for these clippings. The rest are, for the most part, of unknown origin.

Series III, Newspapers, consists of newspapers from up and down the east coast and the northern midwest, where Heney lived and toured with various performing groups, i.e. the Sousa Band and the Royal Scotch Highlanders. The newspapers all contain articles and advertisements pertinent to Heney's life, i.e. advertisements for Heney's Superior Service Station. There are also ads for bands in which Heney was performing and articles about his return home from tours. There are copies of the St. Augustine Evening Record, Binghamton Sun, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre Record, Atlantic City Press, Atlantic City Evening Union, Atlanta Journal, Twin City Sentinel, and the Florida-Times Union.

Series IV, Journals, includes issues of The Etude, Sousa Band Fraternal Society News, The School Musician, and the National Retired Teachers Association Journal. The issues of The Etude, The School Musician, and National Retired Teachers Association Journal contain editorials and/or articles about John Philip Sousa, his band, and his music. The issues of the Sousa Band Fraternal Society News concern activities within the Sousa Band Fraternal Society organization and its members. Prominent figures in this series include Dr. Raymond Dvorak, Jack F. Fortes, Doris Scharfenberg, and Lieutenant Colonel William F. Santelmann.

Series V, Printed Music, consists of originals, copies of originals, and actual publications of printed music materials. There is an original of the Stars and Stripes Forever Interlude in Heney's own hand, written as Sousa wanted it played. There is a copy of Jahemen Rhapsody by G. Meuser in Meuser's own hand. The series also contains publications of piano pedagogy and musical numbers. Ivan Caryll, Raymond Hubbell, C.M.S. McLellan, Robert B. Smith, and Paul and Roselyn Yoder are prominent in this series.

Series VI, Miscellaneous Publications, includes Heney's treatise on drumming as well as Colonel George S. Howard's personal log from a 1956 tour of the Far East. Colonel Howard was once Chief of Bands of Music for the United States Air Force and later Chairman of the Sousa Memorial. There is also a publication from W.F. Ludwig, a leader in the manufacturing of quality percussion instruments.

Series VII, Programs, is comprised of playbills, pamphlets, and flyers for performances in which Heney was involved either as a percussionist or conductor. The series also includes materials for performances of music composed by John Philip Sousa and of performances by colleagues of Heney's. Edwin Franko Goldman and the Goldman Band, the Sousa Band, DeLand High School Band, the Orlando Senior High Symphonic Band, and the United States Army Field Band with Soldiers' Chorus figure prominently.

Series VIII, Photographs, documents Heney's career as a band member and music educator, with gelatin-silver printing-out and developing-out photographs. There are also a few ectochrome and Kodachrome color prints of likened images. The photographs are organized by band name or organization. Included in the images are professional and amateur photographs of the Sousa Band, other professional bands in which Heney performed, high school and college bands in which Heney was the director, performances in which Heney was guest conductor, organizational activities of which Heney was a part, and unknown Heney family members. There is also a collection of portraits, autographed and not, which appears to depict members of the American Bandmasters Association. It is uncertain whether these are all photographs from Heney's personal collection, or if some of the images were part of his brother Edward's possessions. The Sousa Band as well as the Bands of Lenoir, DeLand, and Osceola High Schools, Stetson University, Edwin Franko Goldman, McDonald Highlanders, Moses, Prentice All-American Concert, Ringgold, Royal Scotch Highlanders, Webster's All-American, United States Navy, and the Daytona Municipal Band are all represented in this series; likewise, are the American Bandmasters Association and the Sousa Band Fraternal Society. Figured prominently in the portraits are Ronald W. Faulkner, William D. Revelli, A.R. McAllister, Captain James C. Harper, and Fred McCall. Harold Bachman, Robert R. McEwber, Frank Holt, W.F. Ludwig, J.J. Richards, Edwin Franko Goldman, and Lieutenant Charles Brendler contribute to the portion of autographed portraits in the collection.

Series IX, Contracts, consists of two agreements: one, between Heney as a traveling musician and the American Federation of Musicians; and, the other, between Heney as President of the Florida Bandmasters Association and the City of Miami. The contract between Heney and the American Federation of Musicians concerns a tour with the Sousa Band. Heney's contract with the City of Miami involves sanctions concerning the 1940 Florida State High Schools Competition and Drill.

Series X, Diaries, includes a tour diary/budget account of Heney's from 1926 while he was touring. It documents in what town he performed, his wages, and his expenses.

Series XI, Scrapbooks, includes two of John Heney's scrapbooks and one of Edward Heney. John Heney's scrapbooks consist of pasted-down newspaper clippings and concert tickets, documenting his time with the DeLand High School Band in 1922-23 and with the Royal Scotch Highlander's Band in concerts played at Williams Park, St. Petersburg, Florida from January 31 to April 23, 1925. Edward Heney's scrapbook consists of pasted-down photographs (amateur gelatin-silver developing out and printing out papers, as well as studio postcards) and exhibition passes and bullfight tickets. It is a pictorial document of some of the bands in which Edward Heney performed. There are photographs of "Red" Fox (autographed), the A.G. Barnes Circus Band, M.J. MacDonald and the Kilties Band (MacDonald Highlanders Band), the Johny J. Jones Exposition Band, the Animal Show Band, the "Superba" Girls, The Prentice All-American Concert Band, the Sells-Floto Circus Band, and the Royal Scotch Highlanders Band. There are also photos of the Washington Memorial in Baltimore, Maryland.

Series XII, Yearbooks, includes two yearbooks for the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan from 1931 and 1940, operated by the National High School Orchestra Camp Association, a Michigan non-profit corporation. Students were chosen from John Philip Sousa had been a member of the Advisory Committee for the National Music Camp, which was designed to "develop character and unselfish leadership, to instill habits of thoughtful self-analysis and respect for the rights of others . . . to stimulate music education in America by rewarding high school musicians of outstanding character and ability, also to interest such students in the promising field of school music as a worth-while life work" (The Overture, 3-14).

Series XIII, Memorabilia, is organized according to whom the documents relate. There is personal memorabilia, which includes certificates received by and articles on Heney, as well as blank postcards of Lincoln Center, New York and Young's Cottage, Atlantic City, New Jersey. There is also memorabilia of John Philip Sousa, including a mixed combination of newspaper clippings, copies of articles, Sousa Band concert routes, programs, and flyers.

Series XIV, Sound Recordings, includes an original 1/4" reel-to-reel tape recording of a performance by the Detroit Concert Band on February 17, 1970. The recording was made at the Florida home of Heney's other brother William from a Channel 7 broadcast. The recording features commentary by Vivien Dunn, Sir Arthur Bliss, and George Balanchine.

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