Square Dance Foundation of New England

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/.

1992 – Conrad & *Pauline Cote (NH)

Square Dance Leaders Conrad and Pauline Cote began their square dancing career 31 years ago when they took their first lesson with the Heel and Toe SDC in Merrimack, NH. Following graduation they soon became involved in Club activities including 8 years as Publicity Chairmen. They joined the Queen City …

1992 – Charles & Bertha Baldwin (MA)

Square Dance Caller & Teacher Charlie was founder and editor of the New England Caller magazine which played a significant role in the development of the square dance activity. A square dance caller and teacher since 1940 he has been recognized and honored with many awards on the local and …

1991 – Walter & Priscilla Niederlitz

Square Dance Leaders For more than thirty years, Walter and Priscilla Niederlitz have devoted their time, talents, friendliness and their organizational skills to promote the Square and Round Dance Movement. They started dancing in 1958 and are currently members of the Whirlaways of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. During this time …

1990 – Ray & Carole Aubut

Square Dance Caller & Teacher Ray and Carole Aubut typify what square and round dancing is all about. Friendly, fun loving people, they are often called “Mr. and Mrs. Square Dancing.” They are devoted and dedicated to our activity. Ray and Carole started square dancing in 1966 with the Town …

1989 – Dick & Judy Severance

Square Dance Leaders Dick and Judy Severance represent the type of Square Dancers of whom our activity can be proud. They have been active not only in Square Dancing, but in the Community as well and have received recognition on the Community, State and National levels. Starting square dancing in …

1988 – John & Helen Page

Square Dance Leaders Mr. and Mrs. Friendly Mixers certainly applies to John and Helen Page. Since they started Square Dancing in 1965 and Round Dancing in 1970 their participation in our activity has been one of total commitment. As Angels for each class and part of Square Dance Demos and …