Square Dancing in the Kentucky Foothills

[1] The Council of the Southern Mountains encouraged folk dancing as part of its recreation program. Among the preferred dances were English country dance, Morris and sword dances, Danish dances, and singing games. For further discussion of this, see Spalding, Appalachian Dance: Creativity and Continuity in Six Communities, Chapter 6. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2014.

[6] Philip and Fanny Harrison, interview with Susan Spalding, Berea, Kentucky, June 20, 2014 SC-CD-152-012; George Bryant, interview with Susan Spalding, Berea, Kentucky, June 4, 2014 SC-CD-152-; Barbara Baker, facebook message, June 24, 2014. Eventually the Finnells bought the others out and in the 1960s a new owner added bedrooms to create a home out of the party house.

[7] Geneva Botkin and Rieta Botkin Eaton, interview with Susan Spalding, Berea, Kentucky, April 8, 2014 SC-CD-152-004; Harrison interview. Philip Harrison also began dancing in the late 1930s, but through the Berea College Academy Folk Club. There he learned only folk dancing, rather than square dancing. Apparently the name “Fruit Jar High School” originated when workers were building the school, but it is unclear to me exactly what incident was the source of the name. In any case, the name has stuck, because several people referred to the school that way. It is unclear whether Allen called the dances for the club or simply organized them.

[8] “Berea Play Center Sponsors Square Dance Club.” Berea Citizen, June 16, 1938; “New Organization Sponsored by Play Center.” Berea Citizen, June 23, 1938; “Square Dance Club Meeting.” Berea Citizen, Sept 1, 1938.

[9] Nora Allen Jenkins, interview with Susan Spalding, Berea, Kentucky, June 13, 2014 SC-CD-152-008; Harrison interview. A question persists regarding how Allen learned to call, since square dancing was not part of the folk dance repertoire at Berea College. It may have been part of his upbringing, or perhaps he learned to call from the Morgans or from others.

[11] Botkin, interview with Rice; Botkin and Eaton, interview with Spalding.

[12] Whisnant, David E. “Finding the Way Between the Old and the New: the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival and Bascom Lamar Lunsford’s Work as a Citizen,” Appalachian Journal 7, no. 1-2 (Autumn-Winter 1979-80). Reprinted in Communities in Motion: Dance, Community, and Tradition in America’s Southeast and Beyond, edited by Susan Eike Spalding and Jane Harris Woodside. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995, pp. 91-109.  Matthews de-Natale, Gail. “Wild and Yet Really Subdued: Cultural Change, Stylistic Diversification and Personal Choice in Traditional Appalachian Dance.” In Communities in Motion, pp. 111-126.

[13] Jenkins, interview.

[14] Harrison, interview.

[22] “Amercian Legion Hall Open to Groups,” Berea Citizen April 22, 1954; “Benefits at Legion Hall,” Berea Citizen May 6, 1954. Slim Miller, Rosie Foley, Bernard Davidson, Harold Davidson, George Davis, Jr., Preston McDaniel, Hollis Sheats, Tom Williams, Dr. Gover Thompson, and Billy Keith Williams are thanked in the first article for “furnishing their time and musical talent,” in addition to those named in the paragraph to which this note refers.

[24] Linda Owens Jennings, interview with Susan Spalding, February 14, 2014, Berea, Kentucky, SC-CD-152-002; George Bryant, interview with Susan Spalding, June 4, 2014, SC-CD-152-14.

[25] Jennings, interview; Botkin and Eaton interview.

[26] Bryant, interview; Belle Jackson, interview; Jimmy Lou Jackson, interview.

[27] Belle Jackson, interview.

[33] Hardaway, Howard. “Body and Sole.” Louisville Courier-Journal Magazine, November 19^th, 1958. Richard Jett Collection, Berea College Archives and Special Collections. Richard Jett, originally from Wolfe County, Kentucky, started square dance teams when he began teaching high school in Ezel in Morgan County in 1958. For further information about Richard Jett see Susan Spalding, Appalachian Dance, Chapter 7. During this time, Estill County square dancers and folk dancers also attended folk festivals at various locations around central and northern Kentucky. A May 30, 1963 article in the Estill Herald announces that the award-winning Estill County Ridge Runners square dance team attended the 26^th National Folk Festival at De Vou Park in Covington, Kentucky, at which singers and dancers from as far away as Texas, Montana, and Florida performed. A number of articles mention folk festivals in other Central Kentucky towns in other years. Toledo Blade Article about Covington National Folk Festival May 24, 1963:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19630523&id=WbQyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RAEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6496,6519207

[39] Belle Jackson, interview.

[40] Jimmy Lou Jackson, interview.

[41] Jennings, interview.

[42] Botkin and Eaton, interview; Bryant interview.

[43] Lamb, interview.

[44] Williams, interview. See Spalding, Appalachian Dance, Chapter 7, for more about Darrell Rogers.