The Portal to Texas History 2025 Research Fellowship Awardee
Dr. Steph McDougal
Project Title
The Big Book of Texas Dance Halls
Project Description
Anticipated in 2027 from the University of Texas Press, The Big Book of Texas Dance Halls (working title) by architectural historian Steph McDougal is an encyclopedia of the Lone Star State’s historic music venues and community centers. McDougal, who co-founded the nonprofit organization Texas Dance Hall Preservation in 2007, has identified thousands of dance platforms, halls, ballrooms, South Texas salones, and fraternal lodge halls. Through text, photographs, and maps, The Big Book of Texas Dance Halls will be the first volume to comprehensively showcase the state’s vast collection of these buildings—those that are still standing and those that have been lost.
Biography
Steph McDougal holds a Ph.D. in public history from Middle Tennessee State University, a Master of Science in historic preservation from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, and a Master of Technical and Scientific Communication from Miami University (Ohio). In addition to dance halls and ballrooms, McDougal’s research focuses on historic cemeteries and the presence of African American resources on the National Register of Historic Places.
