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

Browse Items (1930 total)

Sound

The Old Square Dance Is Back Again - Carolina Cotton

For this 1949 recording,on the Mastertone label, Carolina Cotton (aka the Yodeling Blonde Bombshell) was joined by Fenton "Jonesy" Jones. The release was timely, as the late 1940s saw the dramatic… View item
Document

Al Brundage and Allemande Thar

After Al Brundage went to Lloyd Shaw's summer school in 1949, he played an important role in introducing modern squares to his dancers in Connecticut. He went on to become an important caller in the… View item
Sound

Forward 6, Fall Back 8

Colorado caller Gib Gilbert calls a traditional western square dance for a New England audience. Caller Bill Litchman comments, "He took his calling style directly from his father and Marvin Shilling.… View item
Sound

Classic Dances of 1960

This recording comes from the 2001 CALLERLAB convention. (The audio recording is alsoavailable online here.)Jim Mayo, the CALLERLAB President at that time, was the MC, and he explains the start of the… View item
Website

Interview with Saundra Bryant

Short interview with Saundra Bryant, African-American square dance caller from Chicago."At one point, there were 25 or 30 African-American square-dance callers. Now there are probably 12 or 14 of us… View item
Document

"Swing Your Partner!"

This account of square dancing in Michigan dates from 1951, and informs the reader early on, "Today, Michigan is a square dancer's paradise." Because of that time, it offers a glimpse of an era when… View item
Sound

Trinidad Twister - Marvin Shilling

This recording by Colorado caller Marvin Shilling—the Trinidad of the title refers to the Colorado location rather than the Caribbean island—was recorded in 1953; it appeared on the Western Jubilee… View item
Document

Arizona Style of Modern Square Dancing

This booklet, created by a consortium of 20 local square dance club, was sponsored by the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, testament to the rising popularity of square dance at that time.… View item
Document

Ramapo Rangers - Rod LaFarge, 1945

This is a full year of the newsletter issued by Rod LaFarge for his local dancers in northern New Jersey. The following year, LaFarge began publishing Rosin the Bow, a more ambitious commercial… View item
Document

1953 Texas Inaugural Ball square dance program

The custom of having a square dance as part of the Inaugural Ball for the Texas Governor started in 1947; this is the program for the 1953 Inaugural, scheduled for 6:30 PM until midnight. The second… View item
Moving Image

Bill Litchman - oral history

This is an interview conducted with Bill Litchman as part of the research into preparing a 2018 exhibit on "Square Dancing in the American West" at the University of Denver. Litchman discusses his own… 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