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

Browse Items (349 total)

  • Collection: Northern squares
Website

Canadian Olde Tyme Square Dance Association

The Canadian Olde Tyme Square Dance Association was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1954 by a group of callers interested in preserving, and promoting the traditional Canadian style of square… View item
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Huntington's Pavilion, E. Thetford, VT

We often think of the boom years of square dancing taking place starting in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but there is a long history of halls for square dancing before then. This is a series of… View item
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George Van Kleeck - Catskills caller

Three photos of Catskills square dance caller George Van Kleeck. The third one was taken at the Catskills Folk Festival, c. 1941. For more information about Camp Woodland, see this site. The… View item
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Al Brundage and Pete Seeger

Today, it's easy to think of Al Brundage and Pete Seeger as inhabiting two different world, Brundage the popular caller of modern square dances and Seeger the singer and banjo player associated with… View item
Document

Henry Ford Old Time Dances in Vermont

When thinking about Henry Ford's project to revive old-time dancing, it's easy to focus on his influence in the Midwest, reaching out from Benjamin Lovett's presence in Dearborn. These five newspaper… View item
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Don Durlacher - Jones Beach photo

Photograph of dancing at Jones Beach during the Don Durlacher era. A related interview with Glenn Durlacher (son of Don, grandson of Ed) looks at the Durlachers' involvement with the Jones Beach… View item
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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
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Rita and Mal Hayden

Photo of Mal and Rita Hayden dressed in clothing to celebrate the American Bicentennial, 1976 Jim Mayo comments: “He was calling when I first started dancing in 1947 and when I got out of… View item
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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
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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
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Canadian Four Step

There are many examples of couple dances included in the SDHP collection.Click on this linkto go to a listing.Fall dance of the Canadian Olde Tyme Square Dance Callers' Association, a group formed in… View item
Document

Honest John - 1950

This collection of newspaper articles all focus on the dance "Honest John," a specialty of dancers in the Upper Connecticut River Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont. Comments in italics are… View item