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

Browse Items (357 total)

  • Collection: Northern squares
Document

Adirondack Square Dancing

The author describes her experiences traditional square dancing in the Adirondacks from 1918 to 1965, when she began modern squares. This story appeared in the final edition of Ralph Page's Northern… 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

Piute Pete - Village Barn

Piute Pete called squares regularly at the Village Barn in New York City. This newspaper columnist took a less-than-enthusiastic view of the proceedings. The SDHP collection has numerous items… View item
Moving Image

Runnin' the Goat - Newfoundland

Harbour Deep was a Newfoundland logging and fishing community that no longer exists; when the cod fishery collapsed, the town disappeared, with the last residents leaving in 2002. This documentary… View item
Website

Fogo Island, Newfoundland - A Wedding and a Party

A Roman Catholic wedding (1967) in the church in Joe Batt's Arm South on Fogo Island, Newfoundland; then a party afterward with music and dancing in Joe Batt's Arm North. There appears to… View item
Moving Image

Square Dancing in Sudbury, Ontario

This film, made in 1959 by members of the Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers Union Local 598 in Sudbury, Ontario, illustrates the wide range of programming that the union provided for the community.… View item
Still Image

Square Dancing at Mohonk Mountain House

Nell Boucher is the archivist at the Mohonk Mountain House, a classic resort near the Catskills, about 90 miles north of New York City. She responded to a request for more information about these… View item
Moving Image

Nils Fredland - Bouquet Waltz

Nils Fredland calls a traditional square dance figure to the tune of Kitchen Girl with music provided by Notorious (Larry Unger and Eden MacAdam Somer) and Old New England (Bob McQuillen, Jane… View item
Sound

Otto Wood - live recordings

This item includes several examples of singing squares called by Michigan caller (and fiddler) Otto Wood, with his wife Marguerite playing piano or accordion. Otto and Marguerite were regulars at the… View item
Moving Image

Square Dances - 1981 - Pam McKeever & Tod Whittemore

This footage was recorded by Kirston Koths, Oak Leaf Studios, on December 31, 1981, going into January 1, 1982. The event was a New Year's Eve dance with callers Tod Whittemore and Pam McKeever, held… View item
Sound

Silver Bell (clip) - Paul Hunt

music by the Rock Candy Mountaineers View item