Square Dance History Project
The rich story of North American square dance finally has a home in the digital age.

Browse Items (371 total)

  • Temporal Coverage is exactly "1950s"
Sound

Abe Kanegson - live recordings, 1953 and 1955

These are four audio files from live recordings made in Dover, New Hampshire, in the 1950s. They feature caller Abe Kanegson. Notes (by Jim Mayo) on the choreography of the audio files: #1: In the… View item
Document

Fun, Vitality, Life: Square Dancing in Central City, Colorado

This article provides a historical overview of the dance performances in Central City, Colorado. The program began with Lloyd Shaw and one group of dancers in 1936, and expanded over the years. This… View item
Moving Image

Hindle Wakes - English square dance scene

This is an excerpt from a 1952 British drama film, attesting to the popularity of square dancing in England at that time. Here, a large group of dancers follow the calls while the orchestra plays… View item
Document

Square Dance—Houston Style

This article, from Houston History magazine, offers a popular overview of square dance history in that region from the 1940s into the 21st century. The author was , with her husband, president of the… View item
Document

Dancing Among the Stars

In Chapter 6 of his autobiography, Dancing Among the Stars, caller Les Gotcher shares his perspective on what he saw as a series of attacks on him, orchestrated by Lloyd Shaw and assisted by members… View item
Sound

Take a Little Peek - Floyd Lockhart

We've been unable to locate information about caller Floyd Lockhart—please contact SDHP if you have any—but he's paired as a caller on the album on which this file appears with Jim Munyon,… View item
Still Image

Jim Munyon

This album sent us searching to learn more about the two individuals. We've determined that "Munyan" refers to Jim Munyon, who was a southern California dance caller who appears in numerous newspaper… View item
Sound

Wreck of the Old '97 - Jim Munyon

Jim Munyon was a popular caller in southern California in the early 1950s. Indeed, he was one of the callers at the famous (and enormous) 1950 square dance in Santa Monica with Lloyd Shaw as the MC.… View item
Sound

Cumberland Square Dance - Frank Kaltman

Editor's note: We have classified this as Northern / New England but in reality the dance is a traditional English square.Tony Parkes comments: The dance is Cumberland Square. The caller is Frank… View item
Document

Three Styles of Squares - 1951

This 1951 article describes a large and successful square dance festival in Chicago. View item
Document

Jack Arehart's calling booklet

Esther and Jack Arehart were the proprietors of Arehart's 1000 Acres, a "Ranch Resort" (aka Dude Ranch) in the Adirondacks region of northern New York state. The resort ("famous… View item
Still Image

Vermont square dancers, 1950s - children

This collection of photographs from the 1950s shows children dancing, mostly at the large square dance festivals held in Northfield or Montpelier, Vermont. View item