Bands were a major force in the life of Edythe Moore McArthur since she began playing trombone in the sixth grade at Lexington Elementary School.  The high points in her high school years were band clinics, band camps, and two years membership in the Mississippi All-State Lions Band. 

During her years at Mississippi Southern College, where she received the Bachelor of Music Education degree, she was a member of the Marching and Symphonic Bands, and the Symphony Orchestra.  A charter member of Mu Phi Epsilon and Tau Beta Sigma.  She was the first president of Tau Beta Sigma.  It was during those years that she met John McArthur whom she married in 1958.

After teaching in high schools in Taylorsville, Pelahatchie, and in Wayne County for ten years, Mrs. McArthur began working with junior high bands when the McArthurs moved to Starkville in 1968.  It was at the junior high that she spent the remainder of her career feeling that this was where she could make the greatest contribution both to the student and to the band program with which she was associated.

During the thirteen years she directed the Starkville Henderson Junior High School Band, Mrs. McArthur led the group to consistent Superior ratings in Concert, Sight Reading, and Marching.  The band was frequently invited to perform at various directors’ workshops including the New Materials Clinic at Mississippi State University, the Instrumental Conductors Conference at the University of Southern Mississippi, the ARK-LA-TEX conference at Louisiana Tech, and a Capitol Concert in observance of National Music Week.  The band was also featured as Band of the Month in the School Musician magazine.  Individual students were recognized for their excellence in solo and ensemble contests and participation in clinic bands.  Several were selected for membership in the Mississippi Lions All-State Band.  Individually and collectively, the band attained a high reputation for outstanding performance and was held in high regard throughout the area.

Among the things Mrs. McArthur considers most rewarding about the Starkville years was the experience of having both her sons, John Erwin (Jay) and Christopher (Chris) under her direction in the Henderson Junior High Band.  The McArthurs were very proud when both sons chose to enter the teaching profession as band directors.

After leaving Starkville in 1981, Mrs. McArthur taught in Picayune, Gautier, and West Point where she retired in 1996.

Mrs. McArthur received several honors in recognition of her contributions to instrumental music in Mississippi.  She was the first woman in Mississippi to be elected to membership in the American School Band Directors Association (ASBDA) and Phi Beta Mu.  She was also the first woman to serve as director of the Mississippi Lions All-State Band in which capacity she served twice.  She has been recognized as the Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Bandmaster and has served on the Mississippi Bandmasters Association Executive Board.

She joins her late husband, John, in the Mississippi Bandmasters Association/Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame- the first couple to be so honored.