Begun in 2009, the Center promotes research into Colorado through scholarly book reviews, resource guides, and by compiling lists of recent Colorado research.
Colorado Book Review
The Colorado Book Review provides more than 270 reviews offering insights on books about Colorado, often providing the only critical reviews available. This digital resource is constantly growing with the regular addition of new reviews. Send books for review or suggestions to Tom Noel (Tom.Noel@ucdenver.edu).
New Publications List
Updated monthly, this list of primarily non-fiction books on Colorado lets you know what people are writing about the Centennial State. If you know of a book that should be on this list but isn't, please let us know! We'd love to hear about it. Send books to Tom Noel (Tom.Noel@ucdenver.edu).
Resource Guides
Covering topics pivotal to Colorado history, these in-depth research guides provide an introduction and research gateway into deeper scholarly research. They are provided here as digital resources, available for downloading or reading online.
- Colorado Native American Studies Resource Guide / by Pam Milavec (2010, 40 pages). Available in digital format (PDF) and in print.
- Colorado Mining History Resource Guide / by Dana EchoHawk (2013, 96 pages). Available in digital format (PDF) and in print.
- Hispanic Colorado Resource Guide / by Dana EchoHawk (2011, 58 pages). Available in digital format (PDF) and in print.
Special Publications
The Center aims to contribute to Colorado studies with print publications such as:
- Leavitt, Craig W. and Thomas J. Noel. Herndon Davis: Painting Colorado History, 1901-1962. Boulder: University Press of Colorado & Center for Colorado & The West, 2016. xvi + 280p. index, endnotes, bibliography, 200 black & white & color images, 9 x 12” $34.95.
- Thomas J. Noel, Jane C. Harper & Craig W. Leavitt. Colorado Newspapers: A History & Inventory, 1859-2000. Denver: Colorado Press Association Foundation & Center for Colorado & The West, 2014. xv + 432 p. bibliography, appendices, photos, drawings. paperback $49.95.
- Noel, Thomas J., Craig W. Leavitt with Diane B. Wunnicke. A History of the Hilltop Heritage Conservation Overlay District in Denver Colorado. Denver: Center for Colorado & The West, 2013. 92 p. index. endnotes. color & b & w photos. maps. paperback. $5.00.
- Sternberg, Barbara Edwards; Boone, Jennifer and Evelyn Waldron. Anne Evans—A Pioneer in Colorado’s Cultural History: The Things That Last When Gold Is Gone. Foreword by Thomas J. Noel. Denver, CO: Center for Colorado & the West & Buffalo Park Press, 2011. 566 p. photos, bibliography, index. $29.95. Paperback. 6”x 9”
History of the Center
The Center for Colorado and the West was created in 2009 with a $50,000 grant from the Kenneth King Foundation and spearheaded by King Foundation CEO Robert F. “Bob” Sweeney. The original co-directors were Tom Noel ("Dr. Colorado") and Auraria University librarian Mary Somerville, who took another position in California in 2015. Originally hosted by the Auraria Higher Education Center Library, the Center found a new home with the Denver Public Library’s Western History and Genealogy Department in 2016. To reflect the Center’s exclusive focus on Colorado, it has been renamed the Center for Colorado Studies.
The Center's Colorado Book Review and the New Publications List are online resources devoted to new Colorado nonfiction. They attempt to list all new Colorado nonfiction and to review selected works for which a qualified reviewer can be found. The Colorado Book Review and the New Publications List are edited by Jacqui Ainlay-Conley with associate editors Kathleen Barlow, Tom Noel, and David Wetzel. Please submit your suggestions or items to be listed to Tom Noel (Tom.Noel@ucdenver.edu) or Steve Grinstead, Managing Editor, History Colorado, (Steve.Grinstead@state.co.us.). The Center's book reviews and resource guides are both available as a Denver Public Library's Center for Colorado Studies digital collection.
Partners
The original Center for Colorado and the West was a collaborative partnership between the Metropolitan State University of Denver History Department, the University of Colorado Denver History Department and the Auraria Higher Education Center Library, History Colorado, and the Western History & Genealogy Department of the Denver Public Library.
Director
Prof. Tom Noel, History Department, University of Colorado Denver, and director of CU-Denver’s Public History and Preservation Program
Colorado New Publications List
This is a list of recent non-fiction titles about all aspects of Colorado, compiled by the Center for Colorado Studies at Denver Public Library and updated several times per year. If you know of a title that should be here but is not, please contact Tom Noel (Tom.Noel@ucdenver.edu).
