The iconic Excelsior Band has marched its way through one Mardi Gras after another in Mobile, earning high praise and accolades that included a prestigious National Heritage Fellowship through the National Endowment for the Arts.

But it is the local honors that band members say they appreciate just as much.

On Monday, the Mobile County Commission recognized the band’s 140-year anniversary with a resolution following a brief concert inside the newly reopened Government Plaza auditorium. The auditorium had been closed for the past several months for lighting and sound upgrades.

“We receive awards all over the place,” said bandleader Hosea London. “There is nothing like receiving awards locally. When we have something like this, it’s very special to us.”

The recognition comes ahead of Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson issuing a similar proclamation ahead of Tuesday’s city council meeting, followed by the Excelsior Band’s 140th anniversary performance at 2 p.m. Sunday at the History Museum of Mobile. Admission is free.

“This is one of the bands where you don’t have turnover. Guys get into the band, and they stay in the band,” said London, who has been the band’s leader for 27 years, and a member for 47 years.

The band, which traces its history back to 1883, is a marching group that has appeared in countless Mardi Gras and civic events. It was recognized by the NEA among its class of 2022 Heritage Fellowship honorees as “a Black brass marching band that has, for generations, embodied the culture of the city of Mobile and its beloved Mardi Gras celebrations.”

“You think of the Excelsior Band, it’s synonymous with Mobile,” said Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson.

It’s also a band that bridges the city’s long racial divide by historically Black and white Mardi Gras organizations. The Excelsior leads the parades for both the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association (MAMGA), the Black Mardi Gras organization found in 1938, and the historically white Mobile Carnival Association as Mobile’s official band.

The group plays Carnival balls, parties, weddings, and jazz funerals. According to the NEA, they can perform as many as “300 times a year.”

Seven members of the band traveled to Washington, D.C., in early October to receive their honor and they also performed. According to London, the group opened up the first day with a second line march at the National Museum of the American Indian that is part of the Smithsonian Institute. They also performed in the Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress.

It was the first time there was a gathering of National Heritage Fellows in Washington, D.C., since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is the first time it has happened in Mobile,” said London, referring to the NEA recognition. “A lot of things happen in New Orleans and North Alabama. This was Mobile.”