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

Browse Items (1926 total)

Document

Texas Cowboys - dance poems and lore

A collection of pieces related to square dance in southwest cowboy culture, published in 1925 View item
Document

Finding List of Southeastern Square Dance Figures

Author J. Olcutt Sanders embarked on a serious effort to track down examples in other regions of square dance figures found in the Southeastern United States. He devised a shorthand method of… View item
Document

Cowboy Dance (1923 article)

This description of dances on the Texas frontier was included in a 1923 collection, Coffee in the Gourd, edited by J. Frank Dobie for the Texas Folk-Lore Society. The author paints a vivid picture of… View item
Still Image

Quadrille - J. Scott Skinner, 1905

The People’s Ball Room Guide, published by musician James Scott Skinner in 1905, is a description of 19th century ballroom dances.A website devoted to Skinner's work includes a series of videos… View item
Document

Jack Arehart's calling booklet

Esther and Jack Arehart were the proprietors of Arehart's 1000 Acres, a "Ranch Resort" (aka Dude Ranch) in the Adirondacks region of northern New York state. The resort ("famous… View item
Still Image

Square dance, Clayville, RI - 1940

This series of 18 photos were taken at a Saturday night square dance in Clayville, RI, hosted by Mr.and Mrs. Tucker. He is the local police chief and the caller for the event. Music is provided by a… View item
Document

Your Favorite Calls and Callers

This booklet features 30 callers, the majority of whom are from Texas. Each person is represented by a short biography, a photograph, and an example of a dance associated with them. Texas callers and… View item
Sound

Jack Jackson Singing

Jack Jackson was a widely traveled caller from Ohio in the 1960's. He was one of the few who entertained musically in addition to calling. His after party performances included parodies with… View item
Sound

Patter Call - Jack Jackson

This is a short clip of patter calling by Jack Jackson at a dance in New England in 1962. View item
Sound

Baby Face - Jack Jackson

This is a short clip of Jack Jackson calling the singing call Baby Face (Windsor Records #4877 by Al Brundage) at a dance in New England in 1962. View item
Sound

Don't Think Twice - Jack Lasry, 1970

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Sound

Jack Lasry - Patter, 1970

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