For more than four decades at the turn of the century, Louise Sneed Hill ruled over Denver’s high society with her southern charm, societal tact and passion for success. Hill created a society group dubbed the “Sacred Thirty-Six” and held parties that encouraged animal dances, roller skating and alcohol consumption. She fashioned herself to the public as a hardworking, self-made woman. She used the press to sell her image, emphasize amusement and aid in her mission to transform society from Victorian morality to unabashed fun. She pushed boundaries at a time when American society was unsure of its social direction. Historian Shelby Carr delves into the complex story of the highly mythicized, misrepresented and misunderstood Mrs. Crawford Hill.
Shelby Carr earned a Master of Arts degree in American history with a minor in public history and a certificate in historic preservation from the University of Colorado. She has a genealogical research certificate from Boston University and a certificate in antiques, collectibles and appraising from Asheford Institute of Antiques. Shelby specializes in Gilded Age women’s history. Louise Sneed Hill is the subject of her master’s thesis, four previous articles and now a full-length work.