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

Browse Items (501 total)

  • Collection: MWSD
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Square Dance costumes

This collection of two photos of clothing worn by modern western square dancers is from Bob Osgood's collection. Osgood was the influential publisher of Sets in Order magazine. Most photos illustrate… View item
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Cal Golden calling at the 1958 World's Fair

Caller Cal Golden performing at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels, Belgium. He was featured 18 times during that event. The other photos are publicity photos of Cal Golden, taken later than… View item
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Roughness and Speed - Lloyd Shaw

Fast tempos were apparently much on the mind of the editor of Balance & Swing magazine. After putting a front-page essay on the subject in one issue, the very next issue carried this piece by… View item
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Fast tempos - Texas, 1954

This article (and the following item in the SDHP site) discusses a common problem facing square dancers in the mid-1950s—tempos that are too fast for good dancing. As the author explains, "If any… View item
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Square Dance Camps - 1957

This is a listing of square dance camps in 1957. Interested viewers can compare it with the Sets in Ordereditorial from 1951. View item
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Bob Osgood - television program #2

A later broadcast of Osgood's television show, this time featuring his first guest caller (2:25), Ray Shaw, the brother of Lloyd Shaw. Ray Shaw was one of the few square dance callers in the Los… View item
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Bob Osgood on Lee Kopman

This piece fromSquare Dancing(later title of what had been Sets in Order)describes the appearance on the Phil Donahue Show of caller Lee Kopman and a group of square dancers. View item
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Patter Call - A1 - Vic Ceder

FIlmed CSCTA ( Czechoslovak Callers and Teachers Association Convention + Rainbow Prague, Czech Republic View item
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The Value of Square Dancing - Ralph Maxhimer

In this essay, Ralph Maxhimer explains why he sees square dancing as a vital social/recreational activity. He was a founding member, along with his wife, Eve, of the National Square Dance Convention… View item
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Mental Image Overview

This is the handout prepared by Don Beck and distributed to participants at the workshop shown in the preceding video. View item
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Mental Image calling - Don Beck

Don Beck started calling more than 50 years ago. In this two-hour video, he provides an introduction to the Mental Image method of square dance choreographic management, a way for the caller to keep… View item
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1976 NSDC - highlights

The National Square Dance Convention in 1976, the US Bicentennial year, was the largest in the history of that event. The convention took place in Anaheim, California, and included a historical… View item