Tag: history colorado
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Labor on parade: Remembering what the Labor Day holiday is all about
By Devin FloresHistory Colorado The first Labor Day was a grassroots event organized by workers in New York City on Sept. 5, 1882. Over 10,000 workers — one in every 200 people in the city at that time — turned out to march in a parade from City Hall to an uptown park where they…
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The folly and fate of the ‘Solid Muldoon’
Mystery swirled around the discovery of a petrified giant, but was it the find of a lifetime or the greatest fake of its age? By Ann Sneesby-KochHistory Colorado William Conant seemingly unearthed a marvel in September 1877. While searching for fossils near Beulah, Colorado, Conant had stopped for lunch when his attention was attracted by…
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A remnant of one man’s ‘Western Fever’
By James PetersonHistory Colorado Watchman Badge No. 1 is a hand-engraved shield cut and shaped from a sheet of German silver. Sometimes called nickel silver, German silver is an alloy (or combination) of copper, nickel, and zinc. The badge has a blanket–style safety pin soldered to its back. Unfortunately, it has no markings to tell…
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Three places in El Paso County noted as part of History Colorado 150 campaign
A doctor’s house. A historic school. A lodge for important meetings. History was made at each of these locations in El Paso County and each of them has been recognized by a statewide initiative marking important places for underserved communities as part of Colorado’s 150th anniversary. History Colorado is running the Heritage for All campaign…
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Colorado under the Klan
By James H. Davis Editor’s note: This story has been edited for length. To read the original story, visit historycolorado.org. This article was originally published in 1965. After its establishment in Colorado in 1922, the Ku Klux Klan began — under the leadership of Grand Dragon John Galen Locke — to carry out a program of…
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‘Unearthing Futures’ explores southwestern adobe art through cross-border exhibition
By History Colorado An ambitious and sprawling cross-border exhibition exploring the art of adobe is opening at History Colorado’s Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center in the San Luis Valley and the Harwood Museum of Art in the high desert of Taos, N.M. “Unearthing Futures / Desenterrando Futuros” is a sprawling, immersive exhibition exploring adobe…
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Founding documents reconnect us to our shared American roots – and rebelliousness | Vince Bzdek
When you first lay eyes on the actual founding documents of our country that, for the first time in history, have traveled together from their gilded cages in Washington to visit us out here in the hinterlands, you’re struck not by their brilliance but their humanness. The original copy of the Bill of Rights brought…
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Freedom Plane national tour brings founding U.S. documents to Colorado
The Freedom Plane, a Boeing 737 carrying a collection of founding documents, has taken to the skies to celebrate a quarter-millennium of U.S. independence and will make stops in eight museums across the country, including History Colorado. “History Colorado is deeply honored to be one of only eight cultural institutions across the country selected by…
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Celebrating the life of Colorado veteran Amos Estrada
By History Colorado Imagine hearing a knock on the door and being handed a Western Union telegram notifying you that your husband, son or child has been killed in action. For those left behind during World War II, a telegram was the epitome of tragedy, and that’s what Lillian, the wife of Sergeant Amos F.…
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Polis, historians open 20th century time capsule discovered near Colorado’s Capitol steps
A box that had never borne witness to a car starter, a binder clip or a light switch until it was unearthed months ago was opened and its contents revealed on Tuesday. The tin box, which had previously been buried under the pedestal base of the bronze Union soldier statue near the state Capitol building’s…