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

Browse Items (24 total)

  • Subject is exactly "Northern / New England"
Document

New England Contras from a Western Caller's Point of View

This is the third in a series by Jack McKay, California square dance caller. Written in 1952, it's an attempt to look at the challenges of calling New England contras compared to Western squares,… View item
Document

IOCA Barn Dance 1942

Events sponsored by the IOCA, the Intercollegiate Outing Club Association, provided the introduction to square dancing for many young dancers. Students from colleges and universities in the Northeast… View item
Sound

Mal Hayden - Seacoast Demonstration, 1960

This is Mal Hayden, a New Hampshire caller who straddled the space between traditional and early modern square dance calling. Information about him can be found at the Related Item.Drawing on various… View item
Document

Balance and Swing

This account from the early 1950s describes the Vermont Country Dance Festival, an annual event that drew some 6,000 participants. Daytime events focused on school groups, with adults-- 800 coiuples… View item
Moving Image

Square Dances - 1981 - Pam McKeever & Tod Whittemore

This footage was recorded by Kirston Koths, Oak Leaf Studios, on December 31, 1981, going into January 1, 1982. The event was a New Year's Eve dance with callers Tod Whittemore and Pam McKeever, held… View item
Document

Mal Hayden - Seacoast Demonstration - analysis of dances and tunes

This is a detailed look at the dances, figures, and tunes used in the Seacoast Demonstration called by Mal Hayden. View item
Document

Ralph Page – Swing Your Partners

This short essay by Ralph Page (1939) is interesting for several reasons. First, he's writing for a publication of the New Hampshire Planning and Development Commission, and Page cites the economic… View item
Document

Dixie Folk syllabus - 1951

This is the square dance portion of the syllabus from the Dixie Folk and Square Dance Institute held in Georgia in 1951. New Hampshire caller Ralph Page presented a selection of typical New England… View item
Still Image

NH/VT squares, 1940s & 1950s

This is a collection of articles from the Hanover (NH)Gazette and the Bradford (VT) United Opinion, reporting on square dances in the area (New Hampshire and Vermont) in the 1940s and early 1950s.… 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
Still Image

Callers' Jamboree - NH, 1947

Callers sitting on stage:Gene Gowing, Ralph Page, Hal Brundage, Al Brundage, Ed Durlacher, Lawrence Loy, Orville "Pop" SmithMusicians on stage:Bob Gulyassy, George Gulyassy, Dick Best, Bob McQuillen,… View item
Still Image

John Putnam, Black fiddler and caller

John Putnam (c. 1817–1895) was born into slavery and by the 1850s was living in Greenfield, MA, where he worked as a barber. He played left-handed fiddle and Putnam's Orchestra played for dances… View item