Arguably the most well-known marching band leader of all time, John Philip Sousa's music can be found in a number of likely places, such as 4th of July parades, and a number of less likely places, including the humorous introduction to Monty Python's flying circus. During his long life, Sousa composed hundreds of marches, fifteen operettas, and seventy other separate vocal works. This prodigious...

Based at the University of Illinois Library and University Archives, the Sousa Archives and Center For American Music brings together a host of ephemeral records and artifacts that "document America's local and national music history and its diverse cultures." The heart of the collection is, not surprisingly, a massive archive of John Philip Sousa's personal papers and documents. In the "Research...