Square Dance in the American West
Documentary film

Each year, Special Collections at the University of Denver library mounts a special exhibit to showcase some portion of their materials. In 2018, square dance was the focus, drawing on the library's significant holdings; the Lloyd Shaw Foundation archives are housed in Denver, as is Bob Osgood's personal collection and his papers. (Osgood's voice opens the documentary.)

As part of the project this year, this video portrait of square dance history in the American West was produced by archivist Nathalie Proulx and shown at the public opening of the exhibit. Given the location of the library and the focus of its collection, the video focuses on the change from traditional western squares to the early years of modern square dance. Many of the items in the half hour documentary were sourced from the Square Dance History Project, including commentary from some of our consultants.

The Related Items illustrate the display that was mounted at the library.