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

Browse Items (1924 total)

Sound

Fenton "Jonesy" Jones - interview

This lengthy interview (nearly three hours) with Fenton Jones was conducted by Bob Dalsemer and Drew Tronvig in Los Angeles in 1985. Dalsemer recalls: "In November, 1985 I toured the West Coast… View item
Document

Henry Ford Old Time Dances in Vermont

When thinking about Henry Ford's project to revive old-time dancing, it's easy to focus on his influence in the Midwest, reaching out from Benjamin Lovett's presence in Dearborn. These five newspaper… View item
Moving Image

Dean Edwards interview

Dean Edwards was a square caller based in Colorado Springs for some 50 years. In this interview, he talks about his Fun Finders group and his approach to square dancing. Toward the end, he is asked… View item
Document

Square-Dance Figures from Northern New York State, 1931

Maud Karpeles was a close associate of Cecil Sharp, the English folksong collector and founder of the English Folk Dance Society. While in Appalachia in 1917, Sharp and Karpeles had their first… View item
Document

Hipsters and Traditional/Old-Time Square Dance

The author looks at the rising popularity of square dance among young hipsters and sees in it, and its Appalachian roots, a desire for a homeplace:"For one such group, the ill-defined, often contested… View item
Still Image

El Paso squares, 1940s

This selection of photos shows the Sun City Promenaders, a square dance club in El Paso, and several Square Dance Festivals in 1947. The photos are from the Jimmy Clossin Papers at the University of… View item
Still Image

Jimmy Clossin - photos

This selection of photographs comes from the Jimmy Clossin Papers, held in the Archives of the University of Denver. View item
Sound

Chip Hendrickson - square dance caller's workshop

This is a recording of a workshop led by Chip Hendrickson at the 1988 Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend in Durham, NH. Chip illustrated different calling styles and the effect of different kinds of… View item
Document

Rosin the Bow - Vol 2, 1946

Rosin the Bow was a monthly magazine published by dance leader and historian Rod LaFarge. Volume 1, aimed at local dancers, was called Ramapo Rangers. This item contains scans of the complete issues… View item
Document

Honor Your Partner - table of contents

Ed Durlacher was among America's most famous and influential square dance callers. In 1949, Durlacher published his book of 81 square, circle, and contra dances, as well as his set of recordings to… View item
Website

Inverness County Dance Project - Cape Breton

The Inverness Country Dance Project was created in 1986, a detailed ethnographic look at the music and dance traditions of Cape Breton. Now housed at the Beaton Institute, a "cultural heritage… View item
Website

"I'll Swing Yours, You Swing Mine" - A Tribute to Rufus Fisher's Orchestra and Wilson's Westernaires

This is a recorded Zoom talk about two dance bands in the Chateauguay Valley, an English-speaking region of Quebec that has not been well documented previously.This program, hosted by Glenn Patterson,… View item