“Share Your Busing Story” is happening in conjunction with the exhibit at History Colorado, RACE: Are We So Different?  Busing in Denver began in 1965 and was designed to make the school system more equal, instead of having schools that were predominantly White, Latino, or African American.  In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the Denver Public Schools had deliberately segregated schools.  The court ordered forced busing in an attempt to remedy the situation.  While more than 20 years of busing brought some success in achieving racial balance, massive “White flight” led to a dearth of White students to be bused by the early ‘90s .Today the school district is arguably more segregated than ever before.

“The personal stories that people have from those days about the busing mandate here in Denver is really part of the whole story about race and racism in Denver, then and now,” says Keith Schrum, Curator of Archives for History Colorado.  “This series is a fitting companion element to our traveling exhibit RACE: Are We So Different?which will be at History Colorado until January 4.

Schrum also adds that, “The series also ties in nicely to many of the exhibit elements in our upcoming traveling blockbuster 1968: The Year That Rocked History, which debuts at the History Colorado Center on February 7^th.”

KGNU is the independent, noncommercial, community radio station for Boulder, Denver and beyond and series like Segregation in Denver Public Schools: The 1960s and Today is very much the type of programming the station likes to undertake. “We are a mission-driven, nonprofit media outlet that does not accept advertising,” says Dave Ashton, Denver Program Manager at KGNU, and producer of the series.  “We reach out into the Denver community to enlist volunteers and real people to produce, host and report on a broad spectrum of topics that are germane to our target audience’s interest.”

History Colorado and KGNU have forged a solid working relationship to develop programming for both entities.  “We do this a great deal with media,” says Schrum. “Our collections, resources and archives are deep and we often provide content and subject matter expertise to media outlets across the United States.”

History Colorado and KGNU are collecting stories through December 16.  Please contact Shanea Ruybalat shanea.ruybal@state.co.us to schedule a time to share your story. The collected memories, which may be used on KGNU during the run of the exhibit, will also be archived in the History Colorado collections.

About History Colorado

History Colorado, a Smithsonian Affiliate, inspires generations to find wonder and meaning in our past and to engage in building a better Colorado. Find us on Facebook.com/HistoryColorado and on Twitter@HistoryColorado. For more information visit www.HistoryColorado.org, call 303-HISTORY (447-8679) or visit us at the History Colorado Center at 1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203.

About KGNU

KGNU is an independent, noncommercial community radio station licensed in Boulder and Denver and dedicated to serving its listeners. The station seeks to stimulate, educate and entertain its audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals, groups, issues and music that have been overlooked, suppressed or under-represented by other media. The station seeks to expand the listening audience through the excellence of its programming without compromising its core principles.

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