Square Dance Foundation of New England

2012 Hartford, CT Convention

1976 Portland, ME Convention

2012 Hartford, CT Convention

1976 Portland, ME 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/.

1998 – Tom & Barbara Potts (MA)

Square Dance Caller & Teacher Tom and Barbara Potts have brought the joy of square and round dancing to thousands during their 40 years as dance leaders. They are responsible, as founding members and Presidents, for most of the organizations that service our activity today, such as Tri-State Callers, ACCORD, …

1997 – Art & Marge Dugas

Square Dance Leaders From the very beginning of their introduction to square dancing, the involvement of Art and Marge Dugas has been one of dedication and commitment. They have willingly shared their knowledge and experience in organizational skills. As leaders they have been outstanding in making things happen with great …

1997 – *Andy & Louise D’Amore (MA)

Square Dance Leaders Andy and Louise D’Amore began Western square dancing at Fairtown Squares, Topsfield, MA in 1972. They began serving as Club officers the following year, holding positions as Publicity Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President. Their leadership role became greater as they served as Recording Secretary, Vice …

1997 – Pete & Betty Rawstron (MA)

Squaare Dance Leaders Pete and Betty Rawstron began western square dancing with Charlie Baldwin in 1946 in the Boston, Ma area. They moved to San Francisco where they first served as an officer in their club and as a delegate to the Northern Calif. Square and Round Dance Assoc. In …

1997 – *Ed & Judy Ross Smith (MA)

Square Dance Caller & Teacher Ed and Judy Ross Smith started dancing contras, folk dances and squares in 1954 at the P.T.A. in North Hampton, NH. In 1955 they visited one of the first modern Western square dance clubs in New England, Downeast Westerners of Kittery, ME, where they learned …

1997 – Hillie & *Elizabeth Bailey (ME)

Square Dance Caller & Teacher Hillie Bailey is one of the founding fathers of the modem Western square-dance movement in New England. Taught to square dance by Carl Rogers of the University of Maine County Extension Service in 1946, he originated the Dedham, ME Folk Dance Club in 1946 and …