Sousa Archives Closed December 24, 2018 — January 1, 2019

This photograph of Paul Whiteman, Babe Ruth, and John Philip Sousa was taken at Arthur McGovern’s Madison Avenue Gym as a comic marketing tool for the gym. McGovern, a flyweight-boxing champion 1900 who earned the nickname Brooklyn’s Terrible Terry McGovern, eventually went on to play and then umpire professional baseball, and then opened a gym that catered to Broadway’s and Wall Street’s titans. He worked as a personal trainer for Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Gene Sarazen, John Philip Sousa, and Paul Whiteman. While Sousa remained good friends with Paul Whiteman until his death in 1932 in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was said that he was displeased by the setup of this photographic opportunity which he believed was Whiteman’s idea.