Fogg, George, Collection, 1800-2015

Arrangement mixed chronological/subject files. Correspondents include Ralph Page, Nibs Matthew, Carrie Stahl, Harvey Gardener, Wendy Rowe, Liz Donaldson, Evelyn Lamond, Marshall Barron, George Hodgson, Ted Sannella, and many others. Several folders of Country Dance Society-Boston Centre (CDS-BC) correspondence are included as well.

Arrangement mixed chronological/subject files. Letters are dated ca. 1960-2013. Correspondents include Ted Sannella, Neil Kelly, George Hodgson, Michael and Mary-Ann Herman, Ralph Page, Ellen Mandigo, Kate Van Winkle Keller, Walter Lenk, Sylvia Miskoe, Dudley Laufman, and others. Dance diaries are dated ca. 1940-2013, and consist of notebooks of dance programs which Fogg personally attended or called. A partial transcription of the dance diaries is included for 1969-1985.

The bulk of the material is from Boston dancer Louise Winston (1917-1996). Daily diaries for 1929 and 1943-1984 document her involvement in the Cambridge YWCA dances with Ralph Page, her friendship with Page and others, her impressions of dances, etc. Also included are guest books for dances she hosted, song booklets, and her music collection inventory.

Dance diaries for pianist Evelyn Lamond (1907-1990) span the years 1967-1975 of the weekly Drop-in Square and Contra Dance Evenings at 3 Joy St., Boston. A transcription by George Fogg, cross-indexed to Louise Winston’s diaries, is included. Callers Lamond played for include Louise Winston, Ted Sannella, Ralph Page, Charlie Hunter, Ralph Sweet, Rich Castner, Roger Whynot, George Hodgson, and others.

Other dance diaries/notes include those of Clement Weeks (fascmile, Greenland NH, 18th century), Marcia E. Edgerton (diary and transcription, PA, 1915), Allen Wechsler (Boston, 1950s), and several others. Two anonymous original diaries are in very fragile condition.

Arranged by subject. Topics include early 20th century Morris dancing photos, early NEFFA, the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend 1990-1991, Morris teams Fogg danced with (The Black Jokers, Pinewoods Morris Men), English dancing, colonial reenactment balls, the Salute to Ted Sannella dance (1987), and photos of Ralph Page.

Arranged by subject. Subjects include the Black Jokers Morris team, Maine Folk Dance Camp/Mainewoods, Ralph Page, Country Dance Society (CDS) photos from Louise Winston, and early NEFFA photos (including the first festival in 1944).

Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend (RPDLW), 1987-2013 Materials are foldered chronologically. Fogg was heavily involved in the founding and running of the RPDLW from its initial planning stages through the first 10-15 years of the festival. Materials related to each year begin with the formation of the “NEFFA Ralph Page Memorial Committee” in 1987, through the first festival in 1988, and include auxiliary files of lectures, benefit events, publicity, and dance notes. Prominent figures include Ted Sannella, Marianne Taylor, and others.

Arranged by subject. Papers reflect both Fogg’s personal involvement in NEFFA and his collection of early NEFFA materials. Included are letters, minutes, programs and a scrapbook from the first 10 years of NEFFA (1944-1954), a 1946 poster, and a copy of Ralph Page’s handwritten speeches which opened and closed the first festival in October of 1944.y

Fogg served as the director of the CDS-BC for many years, during which he documented current activities as well as curating the papers of past directors. Included are the CDS-BC Presidential papers of Joe Kynoch, Playford Ball and square dance and historical reenactment programs sponsored by the organization, WWII dance newsletters (“The Country Dancer in Wartime”), and miscellaneous historical papers relating to the organization and affiliate teachers.

Alphabetical. Subject folders from dances and camps Fogg attended or at which he taught, including: Florida Folk Dance Camp, Germantown PA Folk Dancers, Heritage Dance Festival (PA), Lost Pines Dance Camp (Texas), NEFFA, South Weymouth MA, San Antonio Folk Dance Festival (Texas), Turtle Frolic (Rhode Island), Williamsburg Virginia Heritage Dancers, and others.

Largely alphabetical by event. Materials consist of teaching notes, posters, programs, travel arrangements, and the like. Headings include: CDSS dances across the United States, George Washington Birthday Balls, Richmond (VA) Colonial Dance Club, James Monroe Balls, and individual English dances in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Virgina, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, Kentucky, California, Oregon, New Jersey, Maryland, New Hampshire, and others. One folder covers a dance taught in Ontario.

Partially alphabetical. Mostly English dance programs, history, and teaching notes from the northeast United States independently and through CDS-BC. This includes the annual CDS-BC Christmas Ball, whose folders are chronological 1984-2011. A small amount of Scottish and Welsh dancing material is also included in this box.

Partially alphabetical. English country dance programs, mummer’s plays, sword dances, and a small amount of scholarly material on historical dance and dance teachers such as Cecil Sharpe (“C#”). Specific events include the Champlain Valley Festival, George Washington Birthday Balls, Richmond Assemblies, Pinewoods Dance Camp, and others.

By subject. Includes a small amount of dance notations and syllabi, but is mostly historical dance files and articles relating to books Fogg co-authored or owned. Topics include the work of James Alexander, Cecil Sharpe, and Neal Kelley, and a small amount relating to Portuguese contra dancing in the early 19th century. An 1984-2007 index and materials from the South Weymouth George Washington Ball sponsored by Fogg are chronological. Of particular note are extensive photocopies and transcriptions of letters between Maud Karples and Evelyn K. Wells, 1940-1973, which discuss in detail English country dance past and present as well as contemporary events such as the bombings and food rationing in London during WWII.

A small amount of International Folk Dance materials from the Scottish, Scandinavian, Native American, French, and Cajun, as well as syllabi for the Kentucky Dance Institute (KDI) in Berea KY where Fogg taught for many years. Syllabi are chronological from 1958-1976.

Chronological. Includes Kentucky Dance Institute syllabi 1987-2012 and misc. other folk dance syllabi 1950-1980 and undated.

Fogg attended the Maine Folk Dance Camp and Mainewoods for many years as a participant/teacher and as a director. Syllabi are chronological 1952-1999. Also included are a small number of Oglebay Folk Dancers syllabi and a poster from a 1985 “Folk Dance Weekend in Memory of Ralph Page” held at the East Hill Farm in Troy, NH.

Mainewoods syllabi, chronological 1995-2013. Miscellaious other materials, including some international folk dance step notations.

Mainewoods syllabi, chronological 1996-2011. Various other syllabi and folk dance materials, including Irish, Polish, Balkan, and teachings of Dick Crum and Émile Jaques-Dalcroze.

Fogg danced for many years as a member of the Black Jokers Morris Men (Boston), serving as Bagman. (The name is taken from a popular English Morris dance tune called the Black Joke.) Included is correspondence, posters, internal papers, and a large amount of folders relating to the yearly performances at Boston’s First Night celebration. Non-Black Joker material includes Mary Neal and the Esperance Morris, Great Western Morris, Sherborne Morris, “Proposal to Form a Women’s Morris Organization” (n.d., 1940s?), and a postcard from May Gadd.

Foldered by subject. The Pinewoods Morris Men (formed in 1954) are the official Morris team of the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS), and are one of the longest-running Morris teams in the United States. Fogg danced as a member of the team for many years and served as treasurer, dancer, and other roles. Included are extensive financials, correspondence, programs, publicity, newsletters, minutes, materials related to the 50th anniversary in 2014, and materials from PMM’s 1980 English tour.

Foldered by subject. Within New England, Fogg has called many times for contra and square dances at such events as the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, as well as collecting considerable amounts of historical materials. Included are extensive files related to Ralph Page, 18-20th century Maine dancing, text of a Bob McQuillen workshop on Maine caller Rod Linnell, historical manuscripts of 18th century Mainers H.G.O. Washburn, James Alexander, Merrill, Thompson, and others. Newer material includes papers from George Hodgson, Dudley Laufman, Kate Van Winkle Keller, Ralph Page, Helen Tracy, and writings on Henry Ford’s dance revival.

The western square dance materials are minimal, and largely consist of dance notes (Fogg was not a Western square dance caller). The miscellaneous ephemera are related to Fogg’s childhood involvement in grange dancing and more contemporary dancing of various styles.

Largely alphabetical. A small amount of reproductions of historical dance illustrations. The remainder is English, New England, and Morris sheet music, alphabetical by first letter of tune title.

Original order: alphabetical by subject. A large variety of historical dance flyers, pamphlets, ball programs, articles, etc. relating mostly to English Country Dancing and contra dancing in New England. A small amount of material on Morris dance and Canadian dancing is included as well.

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Audio cassettes, DVDs, CDs, and phonographic records.

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Morris dance clothing including several hats, bell pads, ribbons, buttons, and Fogg's Black Jokers outfit (he played the role of the fool).

Large copies of the newsletter "The Morris Ring".

Pinewoods Morris Men posters, early NEFFA posters, and a photocopy of a historical dance music manuscript dated approximately 1790.

Posters depicting historical dance woodcuts, an undated NEFFA poster, and other misc. dance posters.