Square Dance Foundation of New England

2012 Hartford, CT Convention

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/.

2005 – Jean Stahl (MA)

We are here today to present the Local Legend Award to a person that has dedicated years of service to dance community. The Local Legend Award was established in 2002 to honor those individuals and couples who have advanced the goals of the SDFNE by their actions within their local …

2004 – Tom & Ingrid Barry

It is with gratitude and pride that we nominate Ingrid and Tom Barry for the Local Legend Award. We feel that they deserve area-wide recognition for their service to their club, Riverside Squares, and to the activity of square dancing. Ingrid Barry first learned to square dance in Riverside‘s 1992-93 …

2004 – Beverly Ryan

No write-up available at this time.

2004 – Earl & Marion Johnston

Square Dance Caller & Teacher Earl & Marion Johnston have been an integral part of the square dance movement in New England, as well as throughout the United States, for over half a century. Earl started calling while still in High School in Rockville, Connecticut. In the early 1950’s. Earl …

2004 – Doc & Peg Tirrell

Round dance Cuers & Teachers Doc and Peg Tirrell have been active in square dancing ever since they attended their first dance in 1949 in Northern New Jersey. They quickly got involved by serving first as officers and reporters for local clubs and later in state and national organizations. They …

2004 – *Paul & Louise Kelley (MA)

Square Dance Leaders Paul Kelley started square dancing in ‘1973 with Yankee Twirlers Tyro Square Dance Club and served as Class Chairman the next year. He moved immediately into positions of responsibility, starting the Partners in Progress Club in 1974. Paul joined Single Squares in 1978. Louise started square dancing …