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

Browse Items (1938 total)

Document

Square Dance in Our Schools

Writing in 1952, the author notes that a recent survey shows that square dance is a widely accepted part of school programs. "These certainly are striking figures. But they are not surprising in… View item
Sound

Two singing squares - Fenton "Jonesy" Jones

1) Solomon LeviFrom his series of Square Dances by Jonesy, this singing square features a simple figure that appears in other traditional dances.2) Darling Nellie GrayFrom the same album. As one… View item
Sound

Hey Lei Lee Lei Lee (clip) - Bob Ruff

California caller Bob Ruff sings the calls set to a popular song at the time. This clip includes the introduction plus once through the figures. Vic and Debbie Ceder has information about Ruff on… View item
Sound

Progressive Squares - Jerry Helt

This half hour recording comes from a 1998 CALLERLAB session led by Jerry Helt, widely known for his use of progressive squares. (We appreciate CALLERLAB giving permission to share the material here.… View item
Document

Progressive Squares - introduction

This article from the Experimental Lab of Sets in Order magazine documents the introduction of progressive squares by Ed Gilmore. The article explains that he "developed an unusual collection of calls… View item
Document

Ralph Page – Sets in Order tribute

Bob Osgood, editor and publisher of Sets in Order, actively promoted modern square dancing, while for his part Ralph Page used the pages of his Northern Junket magazine to editorialize against the new… View item
Document

Cowboy Dance Tunes – excerpt

This was first published as a separate booklet in 1940 to accompany Lloyd Shaw's Cowboy Dances, which appeared in 1939. Shaw provides an introduction.Jim Saxe notes, "The same tune collection,… View item
Document

Don Beck - square dance background

This is Don Beck's account of how he got interested in square dancing. View item
Document

Promenade - Seven Cowboy Dances

This little booklet plays on the popularity of square dancing as introduced by Lloyd and his Cheyenne Mountain Dancers. The booklet was released by Women's Home Companion, a popular monthly magazine… View item
Moving Image

Moore Hall Old Time Dance

A lengthy (2 hours) video documenting an old-time dance in Ontario—lots of couple dances interspersed with squares. Don Rankin - Caller Scotty Patterson - Fiddle Bob Tiffin - Guitar Flo… View item
Document

Pop Sweet

This item recounts a chance encounter between Margot Mayo, the leader of the American Square Dance Group, and Pop Sweet, a traditional fiddler/caller from western Massachusetts. Her excitement at… View item
Still Image

A Callers' Association? - 1952 discussion

https://archive.org/details/northernjunket38page/page/16/mode/1upCALLERLAB, the association of modern western square dance callers, was established in 1974. However, discussions about creating caller… View item