Browse Items (75 total)

Houston Square Dance History

Detailed history of the growth of square dancing in the Houston area in the years after World War II. It includes a summary of highlights from the area's annual square dance festival that started in… View item

Cowboy Dance (1923 article)

This description of dances on the Texas frontier was included in a 1923 collection, Coffee in the Gourd, edited by J. Frank Dobie for the Texas Folk-Lore Society. The author paints a vivid picture of… View item

Texas Square Dances - Rickey Holden

This is a detailed description of three Texas squares, presented by Rickey Holden as an exhibition dance at the fourth annual New England Folk Festival, November 15–16, 1947. Holden based much of his… View item

Foot 'n' Fiddle  (Texas)

This journal was started in 1946 by Marlys Swenson (later Marlys Waller) and Anne Pittman, joined by Olcutt Sanders as another editor. It is among the earliest square dance magazines—Rod… View item

Swing Your Partner  (Texas, Doc Journell)

This is the first issue (see Additional Files) of a square dance magazine edited by C.D. "Doc" Journell. A major focus of this issue is a discussion about the formation of a national square… View item

Balance & Swing (TX)

Edited and published by Swede Soderberg and Jim White, with an all-star cast of advisors: Ray Smith, Joe Lewis, and Bill Palmer View item

Ray Smith - Sally Goodin and a Do-Si-Do

Ray Smith was the "Caller of the Month" in Let's Dance magazine, published by the Folk Dance Federation of California, Northern Section. View item

West Texans Do It Differently

In this 1949 article, caller Jimmy Clossin describes some of the distinguishing characteristics of west Texas square dance: "Many people think when Western Square Dancing is mentioned that we… View item

Square Dance festival programs

This collection of more than two dozen festival programs from the 1940s until early 1960s gives a good sense of what material was being called as well as names of featured callers. In chronological… View item