Denver Public Library: Western History Genealogy: News, Exhibits and Classes

Western History/Genealogy Newsletter

May 2008

Welcome to The Denver Public Library's Western History/Genealogy News. This page is updated monthly and includes:

Archives Collection News
New Books in the Western History Collection

Archives Collection

A note about the Archives Collection: all Archives Collections are cataloged and a brief record is available through the Library catalog. Only a portion of the Archives Collection has extensive online guides found in the Archives Finding Aids that contain detailed descriptive information and lists of contents including the following new materials.

New Archives Finding Aids

Society of Colorado Pioneers WH1685

The Society of Colorado Pioneers grew out of the pride of those people who first arrived in Kansas Territory and settled what would become Denver and Auraria. Membership was first limited to men who arrived in 1859, but was relaxed over time to include those who came to Colorado in 1860, and later women who arrived in 1861. Its last meeting was held in 1943. The collection of records includes ledgers with the minutes of meetings and pasted newspaper clippings frequently containing the obituaries of members. One volume contains the signatures of most of the early members and their date and place of birth, date of arrival in Colorado, place of residence, and the dues they paid.

Hidden Treasures

Mesa Verde WH1751

Fans of Mesa Verde can view the original 1933-1934 designs for the Park. Twelve oversize sheets show the master plan and development outline. The color drawings contain plans for the road and trail systems, utility layout, entrance, information plaza, sewer and water system and the spruce tree campground developed by the National Park Service. Donated in 2002, the Collection was a gift of Charles Albi.

Archives Donations

The Western History and Genealogy Department is home to over 4,000 Archival Collections having to do with the history of Colorado and the states west of the Mississippi. We have countless families, individuals, businesses, and organizations to thank for our Archival Collections, which contain original materials such as correspondence, business records, meeting minutes, speeches, legislative files, scrapbooks, journals, diaries, and photographs. The generosity of our donors has allowed countless researchers to glean one-of-a-kind information about Colorado and the West, and it has enabled generations of family members to visit the Library and learn about their ancestors. We consider our archival collections to be treasures of the Library, and we are grateful for the opportunity to preserve and provide access to them.

Donald E. Cordova Papers, 1954-2002

Judge Donald E. Cordova (1938-2003) began his career in 1964 as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Colorado. He joined the law firm of Zarlengo, Mott & Zarlengo in 1968. From 1982-1988, he was a solo practitioner focusing on health law and products liability, and he then founded the law firm of Cordova, DeMoulin, Harris & Mellon, P.C. in 1988. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush appointed Cordova a judge to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado. The collection (two boxes) includes correspondence, awards, certificates, photographs, yearbooks, lecture tapes, and clippings.

Federico Peña Papers, 1984-1997

Denver Mayor Federico Peña first moved to Colorado in 1972 to pursue his legal career. In 1979, he was elected as a Democrat to the Colorado House of Representatives, eventually becoming minority leader. He went on to become the first Hispanic Mayor of Denver serving two terms from 1983-1990. During his two terms, he spearheaded efforts to build Denver International Airport (DIA), and “Peña Boulevard,” which connects DIA to Interstate 70, is named for him. Following his terms as Mayor, Peña was appointed to President Clinton’s Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation (1993-1997) and Secretary of Energy (1997-1998). At the end of Clinton's second term, Peña returned to Denver as a Senior Advisor for the investment firm of Vestar Capital Partners. He became one of the firm's Managing Directors in 2000. The collection (12 boxes) includes materials from Peña’s terms as mayor in addition to items from his years as a member of President Clinton’s Cabinet. Types of materials include correspondence, speeches, appointment books, agendas, memos, press releases, and photographs.

Photo Donations

Capitol Hill People's Fair Photos WH1016

Photos of the Capitol Hill People's Fair donated by Nancy Hughes have been added to the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Collection. In 1971 the Denver Police Department and residents of Capitol Hill, with Denver Police Lt. Richard Alligood, worked with community residents to create a neighborhood get-together on the grounds of Morey Junior High School. That first year, 2,000 people attended. By 1976 the Fair had outgrown Morey's grounds and moved to East High School. By 1987 the Fair was moved to its current location in Civic Center Park. These 62 photographs represent the 2nd or 3rd People's Fair in 1972 or 1973 at the Morey Junior High School location.

Yuji Oishi Medical Photography, Inc, 1974-1975 C Photo 201

The collection was donated by Yuji Oishi. Contains 28 negatives sleeves holding 735 images, all of which appear to depict St. Luke's Hospital in Denver. Nine loose negatives depict Children's Hospital in Denver.

Western History Donations

H. Benjamin Duke family – three boxes of family records donated by Benjamin Duke
Gates Family Foundation – 14 boxes of records donated by Charles Cannon for the Organization
Kopel, Jerry – donated an additional box of his legislative research
Matthews, Ted and Lois – one box of slides donated by Jeffrey M. Dunning
Presbyterian/ St Luke’s Hospital – three boxes and 27 oversize folders of photographs and plans and two audio-visual boxes donated by Rebecca Hunt for the organization
Sanchez, Paco – one envelope of papers donated by Carmen Beall
Steen Family – one folder of additional material donated by Andrew Steen

Conservation Collection Donations

Bureau of Land Management – one box of records donated by Joyce Kelly
Colorado Heritage Area Partnership – two boxes donated by Christine E. Ford
Urban Design Forum – three boxes and an oversize folio donated by Christine E. Ford
The Wilderness Society – eight boxes of organizational records donated by Ben Beech

10th Mountain Division Donations

Gloria Goldenstein – donated a letter about her late husband, Dennis Goldenstein
Muschler, Art – IFMS secretary's workbook donated by Audrey Muschler

Information for Donors

Individuals, businesses, and organizations are welcome to contact the Library to discuss donating materials having to do with the history of Colorado and the West. Such materials may include, but are not limited to, original personal and professional correspondence, organizational and business records, meeting minutes, memos, speeches, legislative files, subject files, scrapbooks, journals/diaries, and photographs.

We are particularly interested in locating archival materials that document the following areas of state and regional history:

Colorado legislators and political figures
Ethnic groups, such as the Hispanic and Japanese American communities
Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender communities
Sports history and industry
Cultural and non-profit organizations
Native Americans
Notable historical families or individuals
Societies, clubs, and organizations

If you are interested in donating materials to the Library, please contact Erin Edwards, Acquisitions Specialist, 720-865-1810, eedwards@denverlibrary.org or check here for donation guidelines.

Volunteering

Volunteers are always welcome to assist with the processing of the Archives Collections and processing the related photographs. If you are interested in volunteering to help process Archives Collections, contact the volunteer office.

New Books in Western History Collection

With the opening of the major league baseball season, it seems appropriate to note several new titles, and some older ones, that address sports in the West. These works reflect not only a passion for a particular pastime, but often afford us a new vantage on enduring themes in the social, cultural, and political history of the West.

And where better to start than with baseball? Historians have produced a staggering array of baseball publications, covering the game from its inception to the present day, many with a western angle. Oh Brother, How They Played the Game: The Story of Texas’ Greatest All-Brothers Baseball Team (State House Press, 2007), by Carlton Stowers, might seem to first beg the question of how many Texas families could possibly have nine boys to take the field? But play the Deike brothers certainly did, and along the way they encountered such out-sized figures as Lyndon Baines Johnson and Satchel Paige.
Mark Armour’s Rain Check: Baseball in the Pacific Northwest (Society for American Baseball Research, 2006), presents essays and almost 200 photographs chronicling regional baseball. Published by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), the collection arose from the 2006 national SABR convention held in Seattle.
At the gateway to the West, John Heidenry’s The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-From-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series – and America’s Heart – During the Great Depression (Public Affairs, 2007) chronicles the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and their experience at a pivotal moment in Western – and American – history.
Similarly, Glory Road: My Story of the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship and How One Team Triumphed Against the Odds and Changed America Forever (Hyperion, 2006), by Don Haskins, chronicles a team whose experiences reflected changing times. As coach of the racially-mixed Texas Western Miners (now the University of Texas at El Paso), Haskins led his team to a national championship, triumphing over the all-white University of Kentucky Wildcats under Adolf Rupp.
Anyone familiar with the Navajo fastbreak style, or able to name a Pueblo post, or versed in the novels of Sherman Alexie, knows that many American Indians are passionate about basketball. Surprisingly little has been written about Indian hoops, but in recent years a few books have begun to appear, including Larry Colton’s remarkable Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn (Warner, 2000), a moving account of the Hardin High School girl’s basketball team, and the young Crow and non-Indian players.
And basketball features in Ian Frazier’s now classic work, On the Rez (Farrar, Straus, Giroux 2000), his portrait of life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakota.
Other sports, perhaps less frequently in the public eye, have also played a role in how we understand the West. Mark Kreidler’s Four Days to Glory: Wrestling with the Soul of the American Heartland (HarperCollins, 2007), documents the Iowa state high school wrestling tournament, the largest prep wrestling event in America.
Chris Lear’s Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Whetmore, Adam Goucher and the University of Colorado Men’s Cross Country Team (Trafford, 2000) is a largely undiscovered gem of sports writing. Look for Adam Goucher, and his wife, Kara, also a product of CU, to medal in their distance events at this summer’s Beijing Olympics.
And, finally, general studies of sports and leisure have grown in recent years, often emphasizing a social or cultural dimension to pastimes. Rarely has a title examined the religious significance of sport, save for notable exceptions like Richard Ian Kimball’s Sports in Zion: Mormon Recreation, 1890-1940 (University of Illinois Press, 2003), which examines LDS recreation in Utah from the late Victorian era to the Depression.

Previous Newsletters

March 2007, April 2007, May/June 2007, July 2007, August 2007, September 2007, October 2007, December 2007, January 2008, February 2008, March 2008, April 2008

View Slide Show

Some of the thousands who attended the Capitol Hill People’s Fair in 1972 or 1973 at Morey Junior High School.

Music was an important part of the Capitol Hill People’s Fair; this unidentified photo of three folk musicians was taken in the second or third year of the event that outgrew the Morey Junior High School grounds at 14th and Clarkson after five years.

The Police Storefront and Community Services Committee were responsible for the initial coordination of the Capitol Hill People’s Fair. They participated in the setup and success of the popular event, which began in 1971 and turned the event over to the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods in 1974.

Christmas baskets are collected at St. Luke’s Hospital for distribution to needy families about 1962.

Employees of St. Luke’s Hospital receive training on the use of gas masks about 1962.

New entrance to St. Luke’s Hospital.