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

Browse Items (1926 total)

Sound

Chicken Plucker - Lee Helsel

This is an excerpt of a 1957 recording (Sets in Order #1102) by Lee Helsel that was the first recording of the Chicken Plucker routine created by Bill Shymkus. The dance figures appeared in the… View item
Sound

The Girl I Left Behind Me (clip) - Lee Bedford, Jr.

In his brief look at the development of singing calls, Tony Parkes cites the publication of this dance in 1925 as "the earliest description of a singing square I've found so far (in fairly shallow… View item
Sound

Cowboy Loop (clip) - Lee Bedford, jr.

This dance was called by Mildred Blakey at the big 1950 Santa Monica dance. View item
Still Image

Square Dances With Calls - Lee Bedford, Jr.

In 1949, Texas caller Lee Bedford released on Imperial Records a four-album set of recordings with music provided by The Big D Ranch Hands. The liner notes, written by Paul Erfer, start by noting,… View item
Moving Image

From Our House to the White House

From Our House to the White HouseThis half-hour documentary tells the story of Sam Queen and the Soco Gap Dancers from the Maggie Valley area of North Carolina. They are widely credited with… View item
Moving Image

Southern Highlanders – square dance, 1947

This dance sequence is an excerpt from the film "Southern Highlanders," 1947, created as part of Form Motor Company's "America at Home" series. The film was directed by Lawrence Madison. The full… View item
Still Image

Buffalo Boy Go Round the Outside

Lawrence Loy is the caller, working with Carson Robison and his Old Timers. (Click on the Additional Files link to hear the audio clip.) You can also download the cover or the instructions from inside… View item
Sound

Paddy Dear (clip) - Lawrence Loy

According to a detailed discography, this was recorded January 1946 at RCA Victor Studio, 155 E, 24th St., Manhattan, New York City - Carson Robison and His Buckaroos View item
Sound

East Meets West (clip) - Lawrence Loy

Lawrence Loy was from western Massachusetts but this recording, with its apt title, shows the influence of the western style of dance, with changing choreography. After generic opening figures, two… View item
Still Image

Dick Perry Orchestra - dance photographs

These photographs show the Dick Perry Orchestra playing for a dance at the Putney (VT) Town Hall. The group turns up in many newspaper stories from the 1950s and 1960s. View item