About
Square Dance History Project
Square dancing has been an integral part of American social life for centuries. Traditional square dance was vital for generations of Americans, especially in rural communities; in the post-World War II era, modern square dance similarly enjoyed participants numbering in the millions.
Despite its popularity, the history of square dance has not been well documented. Scores of books explain specific figures and calls, but there is no current source that offers a detailed discussion of the development of this form of American social dance. We hope this site helps to fill that need.
Featured Items
Golden State Round Up 1964
Grand march at the Golden State Round Up, Oakland, CA, 1964. Each row is 4 squares, and there are about 50 rows That's 200 squares, or 1600 dancers. The event featured live music, with an 11… ...more
Santa Monica 1950 - World's Largest Square Dance
At the time, it was the world's largest square dance event. Santa Monica, California, was celebrating its Diamond Jubilee in square dance style. Lloyd Shaw was invited to be the Grand… ...more
Schlitz beer ad, 1950
Full page ad for Schlitz beer that appeared in Newsweek magazine, August 21, 1950, attesting to the popularity of square dance in popular culture. Modern Western square dancers were not… ...more
Cheyenne Mountain Dancers in DC (thumbnail)
This is a smaller version of the photograph. If you want a significantly larger file that can show faces clearly, click here. Identifications of the dancers are with the larger photo. ...more
Charley Thomas selling records
Founder of ...more
Doonesbury - square dance
...in which Zonker, a character in Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury, presents a common view of one social activity... This "Doonesbury Flashback" appeared March 20, 2012, a reprint… ...more
Old Folks' Frolic
This is a photograph from a news story in the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times of April 7, 1942. Caption: "These lively square dancers and other oldsters performing yesterday brought a… ...more
Soco Gap Dancers
Photograph of the Soco Gap Dancers, North Carolina ...more
Princess Elizabeth square dancing - 1951
This photograph of then Princess Elizabeth square dancing took place during a visit to Canada in 1951. The press coverage helped spur the rapid growth of square dancing in that… ...more
Featured Exhibit
MWSD Calling Styles - matching voice to music
As modern square dancing developed in the middle of the 20th Century one of its characteristics was the increased use of music in the delivery of the call. As Tony Parkes points out in his short history of singing calls on this site, singing calls had been introduced in traditional square dancing before World War II. While traditional squares relied on live music, modern square dancing (MWSD) made much wider use of recorded music and the availability of music grew rapidly. The musical taste and ability of MWSD callers varied substantially and the musicality of the callers’ use of their ... Continue Reading.
Recent Items
Contra Corners Canon
Big Circle square dance - Glenn Bannerman
Ralph Piper - Teaching the Waltz, 1953
Brussels World's Fair - 1958
Evolution of Square Dance, 1940–1960