Square Dance Foundation of New England

1976 Portland, ME Convention

2012 Hartford, CT Convention

1976 Portland, ME Convention

2012 Hartford, CT Convention

Welcome to the Square Dance Foundation of New England!

The Library/Museum of the Square Dance Foundation of New England (SDFNE) has been closed, however the SDFNE continues to exists as an online entity at: http://www.sdfne.org. It is important to realize that a large collection of materials from the SDFNE collection are available on the SDFNE.org web site. Most important among these are the full set of Bob Brundage interviews with more than 100 leading square dance people from the past 60 or more years and the complete digitized issues of the New England Caller/Northeast Square Dancer magazines. The complete publications of five major caller note services are also available on the web site. There are many other items available for viewing.

The collection of historical materials has been transferred to the University of New Hampshire. The Milne Special Collections Library there has what is probably the largest collection of square dance related material anywhere in the world. As we closed our museum we moved a huge amount of books, documents, recordings, photographs and other items to the UNH Library. These added to the already substantial collections we had been sending over the past decade. The task of organizing and cataloging this material will take years. To help support the University’s work on this task the SDFNE has recently made a contribution of $5000 and we hope to continue this support in the future.

Many of the books and records that we have shared with UNH over the past decade have already been cataloged and are listed on the UNH web site. To search for books use the web address: https://www.library.unh.edu/ then enter the keyword SDFNE. Click here to look for records and enter the collection name SDFNE. Other types of materials will require a more specific identification and help with searching the very complete donation lists that the Foundation has on our computers. If you are searching for something like that, contact Jim Mayo: jmayo329@aol.com or John Wedge: jbwedge@gmail.com.

In November of 2016, the SDFNE transferred much of the remainder of it's museum documents and artifacts to the Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, NY. At this time, Square Dancing is not yet mentioned on the web site of the Museum of Dance, however they have informed us that they will be featuring a special page and a display on Square Dancing in the near future. Our contact is programming and outreach director coordinator, Jessica Munson. Her email address is: info@dancemuseum.org. They're web site is: http://www.dancemuseum.org/.

Also, check out the Square Dance History Site at: https://squaredancehistory.org/.

Heyman, Bill: CALLERLAB Milestone

BILL HEYMAN INTERVIEW April 27, 2002 Bob Brundage – I’d like you to meet Mr. Bill Heyman a very successful businessman and a very successful entrepreneur of square dancing and we’ll learn more about that as time goes along. So, Bill tell me, well let’s say where you were born …

Hilton, Jim & Dottie: CALLERLAB Milestone

Jim and Dottie Hilton March 30, 1997 (Bob Brundage:) Well, hi again. This is Bob Brundage continuing a little oral history project. Today is March 30, 1997 and we’ve moved from Fremont up to Walnut Creek. And today we are talking to Jim Hilton and his wife Dottie so Jim, …

Holden, Rickey

RICKEY HOLDEN INTERVIEW OCTOBER 11, 2004 Bob Brundage – Well hi again. This is Bob Brundage and today we’re talking with Rickey Holden over in Belgium and looking forward to an interesting conversation. We’ve been trying to get together for some time but we finally made it this morning or …

Houle, Lennie & Connie: NE Yankee Clipper, SDFNE Hall of Fame

Lenny Houle – October 29, 2008 Bob Brundage – Well, hi again. This is Bob Brundage and today is – what is it? October 29th, something like that … Lenny Houle – Yes. BB – … just short of Halloween and today we’re having the pleasure of talking with Mr. …

Howell, Bob: CALLERLAB Milestone

BOB HOWELL – 2006 INTERVIEW Bob Brundage – Well, hello again. This is Bob Brundage and today is March the 12th, 2006. We’re talking today with Bob Howell back in Ohio. We had a chance to interview one time before and, in fact that was ten years ago. It was …

2007 – Barbara & *Jim Connelly

Round Dance Cuers & Teachers Barbara Connelly is a second generation square dancer and she met her late husband, Jim, at a square dance while they were both in high school in New Jersey. During college they became round dance leaders and held leadership positions in the area round dance …