Make History with Us
Dear Members and Friends,
I have an exciting and pressing effort to share with you, but first:
The Baby Doe Wedding Dress Is Coming Back!
Dialogue with our members is crucial to our planning around exhibits. For a great example of this dynamic, look no further than the forthcoming presentation of Baby Doe Tabor’s 1883 wedding dress. Many of our longstanding members have fond memories of this item from our former Colorado State Museum and Colorado History Museum locations in downtown Denver. There was resounding popular demand for its return when we surveyed our members last August.
Jensina Endresen, curatorial assistant for clothing & textiles; Mark Nelson, collections manager; and Ballantine Gallery manager Cori Iannaggi recently unboxed this elaborate dress for a conservation assessment. Conservator Paulette Reading of MSA Conservation will collaborate with History Colorado to restore the dress for an upcoming exhibit in the Ballantine Gallery at the History Colorado Center focused on reinterpreting Baby Doe's life story. Reading will restore loose seams, reinforce weight-bearing seams, give the dress a humidifying treatment, and reshape its ruffles. You're the first to know about this new exhibit and we look forward to sharing further details as they develop.
No gloves?!...No worries! Due to the delicate nature of textiles, it is best practice to handle fabric with clean, ring-free hands. Wearing gloves limits the handler's sense of touch and can increase the chance of ripping or tearing fragile materials.
History is What You Make It
Our managing editor, Steve Grinstead, introduced you to our contemporary collecting initiative in the March 31 edition of our new weekly digest. I’d like to share his invitation once more in case you missed it.
You’re making history. You. Right now. And we want to hear about it. How is the pandemic changing your daily life? What will you and your kids remember about this moment? Once you’re done binge-watching TV and are happily back to the grind, what will you want the next generation, and the next and the next, to know about life (and love) in the time of coronavirus? We have simple ways for you to share your story for the good of the future. Leave us a message, send us a video, keep a journal, or request a call from one of our volunteer oral historians, and help us capture this history in the making.
When today’s great pause has passed, History Colorado will bounce back to reaching hundreds of thousands of Coloradans with renewed energy and joy. Thanks to your generous support, we remain poised to maximize our statewide impact with confidence and a grandness of scope.
–Steve
Steve W. Turner, AIA
Executive Director and State Historic Preservation Officer
History Colorado