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

Browse Items (1935 total)

Document

'Sophisticated' City Folks Are Getting Rural Rhythm

Newspaper story (1946) datelined New York that describes the post-WWII enthusiasm about square dancing: ---lt's hep these days to be a square—a square dancer, that is. Folks from 7 to 70 are… View item
Moving Image

Broom Dance - Ava, Missouri

In modern square dance programs, squares are often intermingled with round dances. Similarly, traditional dance programs often involve a variety of dances other than squares—waltz, polka, schottische,… View item
Moving Image

Two-Step at a Square Dance

In modern square dance programs, squares are often intermingled with round dances. Similarly, traditional dance programs often involve a variety of dances other than squares—waltz, polka,… View item
Moving Image

Cabool, Missouri - Square dance with Bob Holt

This is the last of 11 clips filmed at a 1997 dance in Cabool, Missouri, featuring fiddler Bob Holt, a National Heritage Fellowship recipient. Calling is done by dancers in the squares, different… View item
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"Social Dancing in America" - Rod LaFarge

This lengthy history of social dance was written by Rod LaFarge and appeared over three years in American Squares magazine. LaFarge begins with a short look at English country dance, moves to dancing… View item
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"The Texas Cattle Country and Cowboy Square Dance" – Olcutt Sanders

This article, scholarly yet accessible, provides an excellent look at square dancing in west Texas in the late 1800s. He starts with a look at the conditions that set this region apart from… View item
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Square Dance Festival, NH, 1951

This magazine article focuses on the 4-H club of Strafford County, New Hampshire. The photographs were taken at a square dance festival that illustrates one aspect of the group's activities. The… View item
Document

Herb Greggerson - newspaper, 1951

Newspaper account of Herb Greggerson's appearance in Milwaukee, including his response to the question of how does a square dance caller get to the top of his profession. View item
Website

Panhandle Press

Quarterly publication of the Northwest Florida Square & Round Dance Association Publication. This is one of a series of digitized publications for different regional organizations in Florida, all… View item
Website

Northern Junket

In a labor of love, Ralph Page single-handedly published 165 issues of this journal from 1949 through 1984. The University of New Hampshire's Library of Traditional Music and Dance has digitized and… View item
Website

Grand Square magazine

Grand Square As a means of communication among the widely scattered Northern New Jersey Square Dancers Association membership, Grand Square was created in March 1959 by Bob Keck. Grand Square became… View item
Document

Modern Square Dancing Is Different

This is an article published in the Autumn 1966 issue of Mike and Monitor, the newsletter of the National Capital Area Square Dance Leaders Association. Starting with a description of the origins of… View item