The Collection Keeps Growing - March 2013
At this writing, the collection contains 868 items. Among our recent entries:
- Two clips of Kentucky square dance filmed by George Pickow in 1963, one showing a big set and one a four-couple square
- More than two dozen programs of dance festivals from the 1940s through the 1960s; these contain lists of dances, information about callers, and in some cases actual calls of the dances.
- A photograph showing the end of the Grand March, with more than 200 squares of modern square dancers gathered for the 1964 Golden State convention
- A detailed, scholarly article looking in depth at Henry Ford's interest in traditional American dances, including squares. The author goes to great length to counter some commonly-held views about Ford.
- An exhibit looking at women callers in the modern square dance movement, including audio and video clips.
- Articles about traditional squares in Maryland, western Pennsylvania, coastal North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arizona
- A collection of square-dance themed advertisements from the 1940s and 1950s, illustrating the prominent position of this dance form in American popular culture.
Our collection now contains nearly 150 singing squares, half of them moving images and the other half audio files. And speaking of audio, we have added eight audio files of the great New England caller Ted Sannella. Ted never recorded commercially, so these live recordings are a great way of hearing New England style calling done by a master.
Lots more to come!