Reliving the American Revolution: USA250 Anniversary Program Part 4

The Salt Lake City Public Library is continuing its Reliving the American Revolution: USA250 Anniversary Program on Thursday, October 29, with a screening of The Declaration of Independence. It's a short from Warner Bros., released in 1938, and it took home the Academy Award for Best Short Subject in 1939. The screening is part of a larger film and lecture series tied to the USA250 commemoration of the American Revolution, so if you've been following the program, this is the next installment.

The short focuses on Caesar Rodney's ride to the Pennsylvania State House—now Independence Hall in Philadelphia—which broke the tie in the Delaware delegation to the Continental Congress and helped secure the vote for independence on July 2, 1776. It's a specific, high-stakes moment from the summer of 1776, and the film builds around it.

Before the screening, film historian Dr. James V. D'Arc, retired from BYU, will introduce the film. He'll point out where the movie gets the history wrong, and then talk about its value in highlighting themes of liberty and historical contingency—the idea that things could have gone a very different way if one person hadn't made one specific trip. It's a double-feature of sorts: the film itself, and then a conversation about how we remember the history it's depicting.

The screening runs from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at the library's Nancy Tessman Auditorium, 210 East 400 South in Salt Lake City.