׉?ׁB!בCט  (u׉׉	 7cassandra://ptUARIIBYucPxlCrDUHcQ9rIog6ntgrS58twc8gwrY8 `׉	 7cassandra://qT2XIP-qTk6yEDOYOkokD4z5nVDYACVXL7NWt_XCNqIUy`s׉	 7cassandra://phdvfoLswktVxOEzZPo1nfIkWv6GOorW4RjljuezEPk` ׉	 7cassandra://jJKSp3BsJcoCX2LS57-UKYwB84Fuq1SGaoe4LEw_wOQ ͠]Z_3'aט   (u׈         ׈EZ_3'a׉E DJANUARY 2018
AdAmAn Lighting Fireworks ca 1925
Standley Photography
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CSPMA COMMUNITY GA
History matters. Community matters, and when the two come together, it can lead to
amazing things. In 2018, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum (CSPM) experienced a
record setting year bringing more people than ever in its 122 year history in different ways to
celebrate the Pikes Peak region’s history and culture! You helped us welcome more than
90,000 visitors to explore new exhibits and programs and helped people better understand
their community through better understanding its history.
The year started with the long-awaited opening of The Story of Us exhibit. Several years in
the making, this groundbreaking exhibit seeks to collect and share stories that broaden
our understanding of who we are as a community. Using artifacts, photographs and oral
histories, this exhibit provides residents and visitors with a foothold for developing community
connections, identity and belonging in the hopes of sparking a new era of community
pride and citizen engagement. Using GIS mapping technology, the interactive, state-ofthe-art
touchscreens allow visitors to explore the region’s history and geography and offers
compelling ways to discover the past, make sense of the present and shape the region’s
future.
The museum hosted a number of major community events to build a broader audience and
encourage more people to visit the museum. On April 18, the building stayed true to its civic
roots as the city swore in its newly elected City Council members. Throughout the summer,
CSPM, along with Imagination Celebration, served as the hub for connecting our community
with others worldwide by hosting a Portal, an international, interactive public art installation
started by artist Amar Bakshi. Portals use immersive audio-visual technology to connect
people in cities where other portals are located. For the later part of the year, CSPM served
as temporary home to an Art-o-mat® art vending machine. Art-o-mat® machines are retired
cigarette vending machines that have been repurposed to dispense small, handmade
works of art, connecting the Colorado Springs creative community to a network of artists and
enthusiasts across the globe.
Bringing the downtown business community together, Mayor John Suthers asked the Parks
Department, the Downtown
Partnership and CSPM to collaborate
and create Food Truck Tuesdays.
More than 10,000 people gathered
during the ten weeks and enjoyed
good food and fellowship under the
shadow of the 1903 El Paso County
Courthouse. In addition, thousands
of people came together for the
annual Waldo Waldo 5K, the Rotary
of Colorado Springs’ kaleidoscope
of butterflies, Pikes Peak Hospice’s
Trees of Life, the What If Festival and
the Colorado Farm and Art Market.
90,000th Visitor!
׉	 7cassandra://rq11lwcFumm1_ddga9pa0M3VM2nNvpAkz15QpsHO7WI,X` Z_4'a׉EYATHERING PLACE
Essential to CSPM’s mission is establishing connections through exhibits, partnerships and
programs. In November, Beads, Blankets and Buffalo: Trade at Bent’s Fort, the newly
remodeled children’s gallery, opened to a steady stream of families, and World War I in
Colorado Springs connected CSPM and Fountain Valley student curators. More than 1,000
people enjoyed a warm, summer day at CSPM’s Colorado Grown Festival, and more than
2,400 rang in the holiday season at the Festival of Lights Family Fun Day, a 30+ year old
museum tradition. CSPM continually offers families the opportunity to spend time together
through its ongoing Children’s History Hour, Weekend Warm Ups and Family Fun Days. At
the 7th annual Gift of History breakfast, CSPM invited people to build connections to their
community through The Story of Us portal where people can add their own stories through
“Y” = You at www.cspmstoryofus.com and to learn more about public art in the letter
“P.” The building saw a record year bringing together families, friends and colleagues for
weddings, receptions, anniversary celebrations, holiday parties, corporate outings and
retreats that were hosted in its one of a kind setting.
Finally, CSPM launched the
Clock Tower Society, creating
a distinguished group of donors
who support the museum
to ensure our community
forever remains a place
where active minds flourish.
Clock Tower Society donors
receive exclusive access to
events, programs and outings
dedicated to bringing people
together who share a passion
for the region’s culture and
history. For more information on
how you can become a part
of the Clock Tower Society,
please call the Lance James
in the Development Office at
719.385.5633.
City Council Swearing In
A big thank you to all of you who are part of our museum community and for all you did
to help us reach 90,000 visitors in 2017. We could not do it without you! 100,000 visitors are
squarely in our sights for 2018, and we look forward to offering you more compelling ways to
“Ignite your Curiosity” and “Discover You Story.”
MUSELETTER JANUARY 2018| PG 3
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CHILDREN’S HISTORY HOUR – SNOWFLAKES (AGES 4-8)
Wednesday, January 17th and Saturday, January 27th (10:30 am – 11:30 am)
Have you ever wondered what snowflakes look like up close?
Wilson Bentley did! Enjoy the book Snowflake Bentley about Wilson
Bentley and his discoveries, then explore the museum to find other
examples of scientists. The hour will end with a snowflake making
craft! Suggested for children ages 4-8.
Reservations Encouraged -$3 Suggested Donation
PIKES PEAK REGIONAL HISTORY LECTURE SERIES
A WINNING TEAM: ARCHITECT RUHTENBERG AND
PHOTOGRAPHER BURGESS
presented by Elaine Freed
Saturday, February 10th (2:00 pm – 3:00 pm)
In the mid-20th century, two local artists joined forces to tell a remarkable story of modernist
design in Colorado Springs. Jan Ruhtenberg, an architect, designed the buildings; Guy
Burgess photographed them. The resulting images appeared again and again in the
country’s leading design magazine, Progressive Architecture—a publicity coup of the first
rank.
Reservations Required - $5 Suggested Donation, Free for Members
SILENT FILM SOIREE: ROARING 20s COSTUME PARTY & KIDS NIGHT OUT
Friday, February 16th (6:45 pm - 9:30 pm)
Join CSPM for the second annual Silent Film Soiree featuring a screening of the rare 1920s
classic “The Cameraman,” accompanied live by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
playing the score. Guests will also enjoy exclusive access to the “Behind the Lens” exhibit, a
Roaring 20s themed costume party, photobooth and more!
Tickets include 2 alcoholic beverages (beer or wine), soft drinks and a dessert bar. While
parents enjoy the festivities, children are invited to CSPM’s Kids Night Out featuring
refreshments, crafts, activities, access to the children’s exhibit and a children’s movie
screening.
Please RSVP for these events:
www.cspm.org/rsvp-for-an-event/ or call 719-385-5990
McAllister House Valentine’s Day Tea
FEBRUARY 10, 2018 11 am & 2 pm
423 N. Cascade Ave.
www.mcallisterhouse.org (719) 635-7925
First seating at 11AM, Second seating at 2PM
Cost: $27 per person, $30 gluten free, Includes tour of the McAllister House
423 North Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
RSVP at 719.635.7925 or Mcallister.curator@gmail.com
MUSELETTER JANUARY 2018 | PG 4
׉	 7cassandra://ONMLvvSotJsfHs-F7AKNK7fKW1CJAhOtU99snvk95RA2` Z_4'a׉E	Presents the 2nd Annual
Silent F
Roaring 20s Costume Party & Kids Night Out
Featuring a Screening of the 1920’s Silent Classic
“The Cameraman”
Accompanied LIVE by the
Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Friday, February 16th
Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum • 215 S Tejon Street
Doors open at 6:45 PM • Film begins at 7:30 PM
Film & Costume Party
$35 Non Members • $25 Members
1920s Themed Costume Party
Film & Live Performance
“Behind the Lens” Exhibit
2 Drink Tickets (Beer & Wine)
Soft Drinks & Dessert Bar
Photobooth
Kids Night Out
$15 Non Members • $10 Members
Child Supervision
Beverages & Snacks
Crafts
Activities
Children’s Exhibit
Children’s Movie
Space is Limited!
For more information or to purchase tickets,
visit cspm.org or call 719.385.5990
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Gifts Artisans Jewelry Books
There’s always something new at the
Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum Store!
For the Van Briggle Collector, the museum
store is offering “The Story Behind the
Clay,” by Sharon Swint ($27.95) and “ Van
Briggle Notes & More” ($75.00).
Local history buffs will enjoy “Early Ascents
on Pikes Peak” by Woody Smith, which
explores Colorado’s early mountain
history ($21.99).
For a unique gift idea come check out
artisan K8E Orr’s hair jewelry, which is
hand crafted from vintage watches.
Store Hours
Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 am – 4:45 pm
CSPM members receive a 10% discount at the museum store!
Partner Spotlight
MUSELETTER JANUARY 2018| PG 6
׉	 7cassandra://com3BFQ05gR0B3PdhD4nTLHcbiDn69Wu_GMhbrBoRtA(` Z_4'a׉EkFESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT!
On Saturday, December 2nd, more than 40 CSPM volunteers
supported our annual Festival of Lights Family Fun Day. From
10 am to 2 pm, volunteers painted faces, ran the elevator,
managed craft lines and greeted guests. Interpretive
volunteers were also stationed throughout the museum,
providing mini tours of exhibits and sharing information at
our Hands on History stations. With more than 2,400 guests,
volunteers were critical to managing crowds and keeping
spirits bright.
In addition to the wonderful support of the volunteers, we
cannot go without thanking the many community partners
that contributed to the success of Festival of Lights Family
Fun Day. The Pikes Peak Weavers Guild, the Rocky Mountain
Lace Guild, TOPS Stewardship Program, North Cheyenne
Canon, Slim Rails Model Train Club, the United States Postal
Service, the Colorado College Mascot “Prowler,” and the
Switchbacks Mascot “Ziggy” all donated their time and
supplies.
Thank you to everyone who made this special day
possible. Festival of Lights Family Fun Day is CSPM’s gift to
the community, and it would not happen without help from
volunteers!
THANK YOU!
Sharon Dixon and Jim Sciegel
Eliana Bertman and Jenna Baker,
CSPM Junior Docents
Harry Gautsche and Mary Elizabeth Ruwell
Judy Cross, John Osborn, Meg Poole and Jessica Green
MUSELETTER JANUARY 2018| PG 7
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For the past several decades the museum has actively collected oral histories. Every year CSPM
interviews a few dozen individuals who have stories to share about our community’s past and
present. Sometimes the interviewees are leaders in the community with easily recognizable
names, and sometimes they are not. However, each story is important and every interviewee’s
perspective is an invaluable piece of our history. All told, CSPM’s Oral History Collection
consists of several hundred interviews, which span thousands of hours and cover nearly every
conceivable topic in our region’s history. One of CSPM’s most challenging tasks continues to be
convincing members of our community that their story counts and is worth recording. They ask,
“Why me?” We answer, “Why not?” Everyone’s history matters.
Interviews in the CSPM collection are now “born digital;” meaning using digital audio recorders
that easily transfer voice recordings to computers for access and file storage. However, interviews
from the 1960s through the 1990s were done on analog tapes. This type of media becomes
extremely unstable over time and must be migrated for permanent preservation. Thankfully,
Stephanie Prochaska, Assistant Archivist, researched the technology to complete the migration
on CSPM computers at minimum cost. As a result she has successfully migrated from analog tape
to digital file the majority of our interviews from CSPM’s Voices and Visions project in the 1990s.
This award-winning collection was originally funded through a generous grant from the Colorado
Endowment for Humanities (now Colorado Humanities) with the goal of interviewing 100 women
in 1992 to celebrate the centennial anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in Colorado. All told, 126
women were interviewed during the grant period resulting in a wide range of stories that serve as
a remarkable connection to our past.
For instance, the 1994 interview conducted with Norma Beghetto Dellacroce describes her
family’s deep roots in our community. Her maternal grandfather Antionio Gheno came to
Colorado Springs from Italy around 1910. He found work at the City Coal Mine and boarded
with a family in Papeton, now known as Venetian Village. Ten years later, his wife and children
joined him in Colorado. The family built a home on Pennsylvania Avenue in Papeton where
Norma’s mother, Tranquillla, attended school in the neighborhood with the Venetucci and
Pinello children. Norma’s mother remembered the dances held at the Papeton community hall
and the warm, comfortable feeling in a working-class neighborhood filled with Polish, Italian,
Czechoslovakian and Hispanic miners or farmers and their families.
Norma’s father Raymond Beghetto was born in Tombolo Padua, Italy in 1896 and came
to America at the age of sixteen with just $12 in his pocket. After working various jobs in
Chicago and for the railroad in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Raymond came to Colorado Springs
to do cement and construction work on the new South Junior High School in 1923-1924.
Introduced to his future wife through friends in the tight-knit Italian community in Colorado
Springs, Raymond took the streetcar to the end of the line on North Tejon Street to spend
Sunday afternoons with Tranquilla and the Gheno Family. According to daughter Norma,
Raymond would, “…fill his pockets full of rocks and he would walk from there to the Papeton
area to visit my mother and the family. The rocks were to chase away the dogs because
everybody had dogs and cats, and they would follow him.”
MUSELETTER JANUARY 2018| PG 8
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The couple married in 1924 at the original Corpus Christi Catholic Church on North Cascade
and lived in an apartment above a broom factory on West Colorado Avenue. Norma
Beghetto Dellacroce’s story is filled with wonderful wit and insight and paints a vivid picture
of life decades ago in Colorado Springs. If you are interested in learning more about
Norma’s fascinating story or to view any of our other oral histories, please contact the
museum to make an appointment to visit the archives.
To make the interviews accessible for researchers, CSPM transcribes them. To do this
important work, the museum relies on a small cadre of wonderful volunteers. Transcription
is a painstaking process but absolutely essential to making the interviews useful for historical
purposes. For every one hour of an oral history, it takes approximately 4 to 6 hours of
transcription time. Every section of the voice recording must be listened to numerous times to
get an accurate transcription. Additionally, transcripts must be edited for spelling and other
errors before they are approved for use in research and exhibits. The oral history collection
is “mined” extensively in the research and preparation for new exhibits. For instance, CSPM
has dozens of interview excerpts in the Story of Us exhibit and online platform. Visitors enjoy
the “first-person” narration of local events and subject matter available through these stories.
For the past several months, CSPM has conducted interviews in preparation of upcoming
exhibits on the families of POWs/MIAs during the Vietnam Era in addition to the founding
members Sankofa. And the work continues.
Do you have stories to share? Would you or someone else you know participate in our
ongoing oral history documentation project? Would you like to volunteer to help us conduct
interviews or transcribe them? If so, please feel free to contact Leah Witherow at your
convenience. The CSPM team looks forward to hearing from you!
MUSELETTER JANUARY 2018| PG 9
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FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS: FAMILY FUN DAY
CSPM staff members ready to spread cheer!
Meeting with Ziggy,
mascot for the Switchbacks
Making a CSPM ornament
Enjoying Professor Higgins’ magic show
CSPM partnered with
Chamber Orchestra
of the Springs for
“Folklore: A Piano
and Cello Recital” on
December 29th
MUSELETTER JANUARY
MUSELETTER JANUARY 2018 | PG 10
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