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Roots & History

There are lots of resources in the world for those curious about the way we were. Old publications, old recordings, posters - all sorts of printed and recorded materials. And old timers are good for hours of conversation. Here you will find an article written by David Millstone who is a tremendous offline source of historical lore.

Having been briefly involved in the running of the Brattleboro Dawn Dances, I was also given permission by Michael McKernan to reproduce an article he wrote for his Contra & Square Dance History quarterly. I used to have every issue, but they seem to have gotten lost someplace during some move. Michael had some terrific articles in that journal and I would love to find them someday.

I was pleased to see that the link to Julie Mangen's Fabricating a National Folk Dance is still a working link. It's a good one, go visit.

More resources for those interested in the history of contra/square dance:

  • New Hampshire Library of Traditional Music and Dance
  • Country Dance & Song Society
  • Lloyd Shaw Foundation
List of articles in category Roots & History
Title Created Date Author Hits
Brattleboro Dawn Dances History 31 December 1995 Written by Michael McKernan Hits: 6172
So, Why Are They Called Chestnuts? 28 June 2007 Written by David Millstone Hits: 9159

(c) 2012-2017 Bill Tomczak