Biographies of selected leaders in tap dance

The problem was to write the biographical histories of selected tap dancers who made distinct contributions to tap dance sometime between the years 1750 and 1970. It appeared essential to write the biographies of the leading dancers so that persons concerned with tap dance, now and in the future, will have access to these biographies. The biographies have been arranged by chapters according to dates of birth. Some of the dancers were living in 1975. This study was delimited to the biographical history of selected dancers who made distinct contributions to tap dance. The following limitations existed in the study: (1) a number of the selected tap dance leaders were deceased; therefore, the amount of primary source material was somewhat limited; (2) there was limited access to some documents and personal records of certain individuals; (3) due to time allotment, show engagements and geographical problems, it was not feasible to obtain personal interviews with associates of some of the deceased subjects due to show engagements, changed name, travel time allotment, and geographical problems.