Edwin Hampton, founding director of the St. Augustine High School's "Marching 100" band, has
died.
Times Picayune

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Hampton's death was first reported by WWL-TV.

The renowned Marching 100, for decades under the direction of Mr. Hampton, is a fixture in
Carnival parades.

The band has marched down New York's Broadway in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and performed
at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

The band also performed for Pope John Paul II during his 1987 visit to New Orleans, for at least
eight U.S. presidents and several Super Bowl audiences.

Mr. Hampton started the band after joining the staff of the high school for African-American
males in 1952, a year after the school opened.

"We practice in the summer," Mr. Hampton said in 2003 article in The Times-Picayune. "It's a
constant learning process. Most of them come from schools where you don't do all the things you
do in high school. You have to memorize music."

St. Augustine has posted a tribute on the school's Web site.