Adrienne Fried Block earned an MA in Musicology from Hunter College 1967 and a Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate Center in 1979. In addition to her groundbreaking scholarly work in musicology, she taught/conducted at several schools including the Dalcroze School of Music, Hunter College, and the CUNY Graduate Center, where she was an Adjunct Professor of Music. She taught, lectured and published articles on women in…
Alvah W. Sulloway (1915-2006) was a lawyer whose career focused on ensuring freedom of information and freedom of access to governmental proceedings for Mainers. In his personal time he collected thousands of early 20th century sheet music publications and ca. 1000 vinyl records. The Alvah Sulloway Theater and Dance Music Collection (1772-1978) consists of thousands of pieces of sheet music which cover sheet music…
Amy Marcy Cheney (1867-1944) was born in Henniker, New Hampshire. In 1883, at age sixteen, she made her professional debut as a pianist and later a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. After her marriage in 1885, to Henry Harris Aubrey Beach, she shifted emphasis from performance to composition. The 1896 Boston Symphony performance of her Gaelic Symphony in E Minor, Op. 32 (recognized as the first symphonic…
Milton Prince Appleby (1923-2018) was a fiddler and farmer from Rochester, N.H., of New Brunswick French/English and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) heritage. He was born in Needham, Mass., son of John “Jack” Bickford Appleby (1881-1974) and Laura Alice Prince (1908-1995). Milton and his sister Edith (b. 1924) played for square dances within 150 miles of Rochester and made two records on the Spinet label during the 1950s…
Charles Baldwin (1907-1986) was a square dance caller and teacher in the western or ‘modern’ square dance tradition. He was greatly influential in western square dancing starting in the 1940s. Baldwin founded Camp Becket (MA), editor of the New England Square Dancer, and was the recipient of many awards. The Charles Baldwin Papers consist of correspondence, syllabi and dance notation, New England Square Dancer…
Bob Bennett was a teacher and caller of New England style squares who lived in Concord, NH, and later in York, ME. He attended the Folkways School in Peterborough NH with Ralph Page and Gene Gowing in the summer of 1949. The collection consists of calling notebooks, music books, festival programs detailing his 1940s-1950s involvement in the New Hampshire Folk Festival, NEFFA, and other New Hampshire dancing…
Gloria Berchielli was a contra dancer, and was particularly involved with programs at Pinewoods Camp and weekends at Hudson Guild Farm. The Gloria Berchielli collection contains photographs of various dance events from May 1952 until 1986. The photographs were taken primarily at Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Robert Sage Wilber (b. March 15, 1928), clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator, was born in New York City. He started playing jazz in high school. In 1968, Wilber joined the World's Greatest Jazz Band (WGJB) for six years. In 1975, Wilber formed the highly regarded Soprano Summit along with co-leader Kenny Davern. In the 1970s and 1980s, he produced concerts for the New York Jazz Repertory…
Violet “Bunny” Buskey (1912-2007) and Elliott Buskey (1912-1988) started their dance careers in Fitchberg, MA in the 1940’s. They moved to the Chicago area in 1951 where they taught contra dancing. This collection contains programs from dance gatherings in the Chicago area from 1952 to 1959. Also included in the collection are handwritten dance instructions from notebooks and index cards.
The Country Dance Society, Boston Centre (CDS-BC) was founded in 1915 as the English Folk Dance Society, Boston Branch (EFDS-BB). In 1940 the national organization of EFDS reincorporated as the Country Dance Society (now CDSS, the Country Dance and Song Society). Materials reflect the internal structure and outreach activities of EFDS-BB/CDS-BC, 1915-1999, including historical, executive committee, financial and…
The Country Dance Society was incorporated as an educational, non-profit organization in 1940. It is the successor of the U.S. Branch of the EFDS. CDS later reincorporated as what is now known as the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS). Through its resources and programs, CDSS celebrates and preserves traditional forms of English and Anglo-American dance, music, and song. It both promots their new expression and…
| Call # | Title | Author |
|---|---|---|
| A030.09 | Winsor Knot (of Ruby Hue) | Pat Shaw |
| A030.14 | Pat Shaw's Dance Class Notes, Pinewoods 1974 | Pat Shaw |
| A030.15 | Predominantly Pat Shaw, Germantown Country Dancers, Philadelphia, PA Spring Bal |
The Dance Gypsy, a monthly dance newsletter and calendar “for dancers with wanderlust” edited by Tom and Val Medve in Essex Junction, Vermont, started publication in 1990. Direct forerunners were the Vermont Folk Arts Network (1983-1987) and Patchwork Music Dance Calendar (1987-1990), both edited by Ann Pearce (and the former also by Ruby Ackert-Herzig). In June 2000 the Medves passed the editorship to Gregg Scragg,…
David H. Millstone is a folk dance teacher, caller, and historian from northern New Hampshire, and a prolific author and documentarian on contemporary and historical New England contra and square dance. He maintains the Square Dance History Project at www.squaredancehistory.org and is past president of the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS). This collection contains interviews, photographs, audiovisual recordings…
Dorothy Prescott Ruth Cooke (1921-1988) was born in Everett, MA. Her respect for jazz musicians manifested itself in 1978 when she formed the New Hampshire Traditional Library of Jazz (NHLTJ). In 1979, Prescott collaborated with the UNH music department to establish the NH Traditional Jazz Series of live concerts. The Dorothy Prescott Papers document the formation and operation of the New Hampshire Library of…
Started in 1947 by Priscilla Rabethge, the recreation specialist for the physical education department, UNH's folk dance club was named after a dance called the Durham Reel. The scrapbook includes documents and photographs from the early club dances as well as many photos taken at the reunions.
Edward Alexander MacDowell (1860-1908) was the first American composer to achieve international recognition. The Edward MacDowell Papers primarily contains musical works by MacDowell in both manuscript and printed form. However, the collection also includes correspondence from Robert MacDowell to his mother, a notebook, a sketchbook, letters from Marian MacDowell to Robert Manton, magazine articles and newspaper…
The Fitzwilliam Square Dance was a very popular dance held in the Town Hall in Fitzwilliam NH between ca. 1969 and 1980. Musicians included Duke Miller, Dudley Laufman, Tod Whittimore, Tony Parkes, Bob McQuillen, the Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra, and others.
George Fogg (1928-2022) of Boston, MA, was the recipient of Country Dance and Song Society Lifetime Contribution Award for 2012. He was a teacher of country dance beginning in 1968, and was an expert at getting beginners out onto the dance floor. The collection consists of dance diaries, correspondence, photographs, dance notation, ephemera, pedagogical materials, and audio visual materials from Fogg and others. It…
Charles “Charlie” Francisco (ca. 1920-1997) was a folkdance leader especially active during the 1940s-1960s in Buffalo, New York. His particular strength was in Slavic/Baltic music and dance, but he also enjoyed contra dance, square dance, Scottish country dancing, Morris dancing, and English dancing. He cofounded and led the Buffalo Folk Dancers. His work was important in bridging the social gap between upper class…
Gerda Peterich (1906-1974) came to New Hampshire in 1959 and did an architectural survey and photographic studies of Manchester. She was a lecturer in Art History and Director of the Photographic Archives at Syracuse University from 1964 to 1968. During her career she was a photographer of dances and dancers, and a staff photographer for Dance Magazine. She was an associate in research at the George Eastman House,…
Mary Gillette was a close friend of Ralph Page who lived in Boston and was involved in founding both NEFFA and the Tuesday night Cambridge YWCA dances (founded 1943) which Page called. S Papers include NEFFA programs and news (1954-1986), posters from Cambridge YWCA dances, and close correspondence with Ralph Page and Ted Sannella. A certificate commemorates her involvement in organizing the Tuesday night dances at…
Gene Gowing was born in Dublin, NH on March 19, 1896. He was the head of Gene Gowing's Folkways, a society for the promotion and teaching of English and American folk dances, and he frequently worked with fellow dance enthusiast, Ralph Page. Gowing wrote several books on folk dancing. He died on October 13, 1968. The Gene Gowing collection contains a small amount of manuscripts, notes and brochures on folk dancing,…
Christine Helwig (1913-2009) was an expert on English Country Dance and in particular the dances and music of 17th Century France and England. She helped start several dancing groups and authored two books on dance. Research and correspondence related to the music and dance of 17th century England, France, and North America, particularly the work of Andre Lorin. Some analysis of John Playford, Elias Howe, Raoul…
Henderson N. White was born in Romeo, Michigan in 1873. From 1893 until his death in 1940 he owned and operated a musical instrument manufacturing business in Cleveland, redesigning twenty eight instruments during his career. Mr. White made a huge impact on the manufacturing of musical instruments because of his passion for high quality perfect sounding instruments. The H.N. White Company produced the “King” brand…
Chip Hendrickson (1932-2005) was a dance caller and dance historian. He recorded many 45 rpm records for the Top Caller and Grenn labels in the genres of Western square dance, New England square dance, contra dance, and 18th century historical dance. The Hendrickson Papers (1953-1970) consist of notes on dances and figures called at classes and clubs in ca. 55 locations throughout the northeast. A small number of…
Shaker of Enfield, N.H., musician, and poet. Composer of the popular Shaker song "Millenial Praise". Music book kept by James Russell of Enfield, N.H. The first 56 pages of the book contain a 12 section lesson on the principles of music. Pages 58-145 contain hymns and poems Russell wrote for the funerals of numerous Enfield and Canterbury, N.H. Shakers. The final hymn in the book, written in a different hand, is a funeral hymn for Russell. Also included in the book are two poems: one is a…
Larry Jennings was a dancer, caller, dance organizer, author, and dance philosopher who had a nationwide influence through his writings, series of discussion sessions attended by callers and organizers, and individualized critiques of dance callers over a period of 50 years. The collection consists of correspondence, mostly with Al Olson concerning background work and drafts for the book Zesty Contras. Also included…
Elliot (1921-2016) and Rachel Juni (b. 1922) were avid western style square dancers from Ann Arbor, Michigan. This collection consists of a small number of dance calling cards and event posters, convention programs, and about 20 publications related to challenge square dancing on the Advanced through C4 levels.
Dudley Laufman (b. 1930) is a folk dance caller, band leader, musician, composer, author, and poet from Canterbury, NH. He was heavily influenced by the late caller Ralph Page, and was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship Award in 2009. Without Dudley's work during the contra dance revival of the 1960s-1970s and onwards, it is likely that the contra dance tradition as we know it would be gone forever. Contains…
Lois Greene Stone is an American writer and poet. The Lois Greene Stone collection consists of 139 individual pieces of sheet music, 14 sheet music books, 10 playbills and 2 programs, and includes popular songs, songs from Broadway musicals and Hollywood movies, classical music, and five dance books. Several of the playbills are autographed by cast members and include original ticket stubs. There is one original…
Jim Mayo is one of the few western square dance callers who began dancing in the more traditional style taught by Ralph Page and was later mentored in calling by Al Brundage. Mayo went on to be a founding member and chairman of CALLERLAB (est. 1972). His interest in the history of western square dance led to his 2003 book “Step by Step Through Modern Square Dance History”. The collection consists of papers…
Robert Comer McQuillen (1923-2014) was a distinguished New England contra and square dance musician whose highly influential career spanned nearly 65 years and all of North America and Western Europe. This collection consists of materials relating to and generated by the musical career of Robert Comer McQuillen (1923-2014).
Reuben Merchant was a western-style square dance and international folk dance caller from Nassau, New York. The collection consists of circa 1000 45 RPM and LP records, and a small amount of textual material.
The Monadnock Folklore Society was founded in 1980 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1982. The original purpose was to increase the visibility of folk dance and music events in southern New Hampshire, provide new venues for performers, and provide educational services in the folk arts to the community. For a number of years, the society published a bimonthly newsletter containing listings of music and…
The New England Folk Festival Association, Inc. was founded in 1944 and incorporated in 1950. Founders included Ralph Page. The festival has been held yearly since then; since 1988 NEFFA has also sponsored the annual Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend (RPDLW) at UNH. The collection consists of three cubic feet of materials relating to the RPDLW from 1988 until 2000. The remainder is committee minutes, correspondence,…
The first resurrected New Hampshire Folk Festival – an event with that name had previously been held from 1946-1964 – was held at Pat’s Peak Ski Area in Henniker on August 15, 1976. The New Hamsphire folk community felt that it was time that serious consideration be given to musicians in New Hampshire instead of the talent from Boston or New York which was always being showcased. The Folk Festival continued on an…
Ralph Page’s career as a dance caller began in 1930. Ralph continued to call for the next 54 years, becoming one of the leading callers of his time and an important figure in the history of traditional dance in America. The Ralph Page Manuscript Collection contains Ralph’s correspondence, personal notebooks, daily calendars, scrapbooks, numerous manuscripts, dance calls and instruction, programs from…
Glenn F. Pease (1906-1989) of Orford, NH, was a square dance caller in the New England singing squares tradition. He called dances in Orford, Warren, Piermont, and surrounding locations. He is particularly remembered for starting the Wentworth NH square dance at the Painted Barn in the 1950s, and for his stately version of Honest John Quadrille. The Glenn F. Pease Manuscript Collection consists of biographical…
Joe Peidle is a professor of Scientific Instrument Making at Harvard University. He is also an avid photographer, with interests in a variety of subjects, and has his own darkroom. These photographs of contra dancing cover New England Folk Festival Association (NEFFA) festivals, Concord Scouthouse dances, Peterborough NH town hall dances, and dances at the Cambridge VFW hall. They are mostly black and white. Formats…
Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, MA has been in operation since 1919 as a dance camp; before that it was a Girl Scout camp. The camp is owned by the Country Dance and Song Society, and has worked to promote Anglo-American traditional dance and music since its founding. This collection contains legal/real estate materials from the early Girl Scout camp, as well as correspondence, photos, financials, publications, and…
The Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend celebrates the legacy of New Hampshire dance caller Ralph Page (1903-1985) with an annual 3 day festival of New England music and dance. It was established in January 1988 as a branch of the New England Folk Festival Association (NEFFA). Syllabi, schedules, promotional material, and workshop material for 1988-2020. Accruals will continue.
Rober Manton, noted composer of choral, piano, and orchestral works, was born in Dorchester, MA in 1894. He studied music at Harvard University under W.C. Heilman, Dr. A.T. Davison and Dr. E.B. Hill and with Harris S. Shaw in piano and organ, graduating in in 1918, and at the University of Toulouse with Vincent d'Indy, pupil of Cesar Franck. In 1923, he came to the University of New Hampshire Music Department, where…
The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, Boston Branch was formed in 1950 and was both the first branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society established outside the United Kingdom and the first branch in North America. The collection, which has been minimally processed, consists of various organizational materials relating to the Boston Branch of the RSCDS, including by-laws, minutes, event materials, such…
The Sacred Dance Guild was founded in 1958 and incorporated in 1965 as an international, interfaith, interdenominational non-profit organization. It publishes the Sacred Dance Guild Journal three times a year and sponsors a National Festival held in different locations to accommodate the membership. The Sacred Dance Guild Archives consists of the records for the national organization, such as incorporation papers,…
