2025 Awardees

JOSEPHINE H. MILES AWARD
Black American West Museum & Heritage Center– Preserving the Legacy: Cataloging the Black American West. This $2,500 award is given to projects in communities with a population of 50,000 or more.

Preserving the Legacy: Cataloging the Black American West is a project, the first of its kind in the museum's 54-year history in which their collection has been systematically organized with a unified collections management system and rehoused for physical care and long-term curation. More than 5,000+ objects have been digitally cataloged with CatalogIt, accompanied by 13,000+ photographs, and 95% of the collection has been archivally rehoused. In addition to this, collections policies and procedures as well as an emergency preparedness plan were created for the collection. Students from CU Denver participated in implementing the project, bridging the gap between current and future generations for the museum and its audience. 

The outcomes of this project not only highlight the valuable stories that have been retained by the museum, but it has allowed new pathways of access to highlight the long neglected and overlooked histories of Black Coloradans.
 

JOSEPHINE H. MILES HONORARY AWARD
City and County of Broomfield – Broomfield Out Loud
This $1,000 award is given to projects in communities with a population of 50,000 or more.

Broomfield Out Loud is the result of a two year NEA funded project that highlights the voices of Broomfield residents. The team recorded 65 oral histories that are now part of the Broomfield History Archive documenting the diversity of Broomfield residents and their experiences. Ten of the oral history narrators were paired with selected artists who created original artwork inspired by the stories. 

The project culminated in an October 2024 Showcase at the Broomfield Auditorium, in which audience members were treated to these histories, artwork, and live performances that sought to build and broaden the concept of what it means to be a Broomfield community member today.
 

CAROLINE BANCROFT AWARD
Montezuma Heritage Museum – Ute Mountain Utes: We Are Still Here exhibition
This $1,250 award is given to projects in communities with a population of 50,000 or less. 

The Ute Mountain Utes: We Are Still Here exhibition began as a collaboration in 2019 between the museum, volunteers, and community members to share Indigenous voices as current and active members of the community today. 

The goal of this exhibit is to capture this important part of Montezuma County’s history and to collaborate closely with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to share their culture and stories with museum visitors. Museum staff and stakeholders are bringing tribal and pioneer experiences together to tell a fuller history of the region. 
 

Who are some of the past awardees? What projects have they done?

The 2024 Miles and Bancroft Awards were given to two spectacular winners for their unique, engaging, and community-focused projects advancing Colorado history: 

Josephine Miles Award - Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities – Colcha Embroidery of the San Luis Valley

The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities was chosen for the Josephine H. Miles Award, which includes a $2,500 prize, and is given to projects in communities with a population of 50,000 or more. The Arvada-based nonprofit was chosen for its Colcha Embroidery of the San Luis Valley Project, which was created in collaboration with The Range and HEART of Saguache, to highlight historic and contemporary artworks that depict the landscape and history of the San Luis Valley in a narrative embroidery style unique to the region.

Among the outcomes of this project were an exhibition featuring the artwork of 33 Colorado artists; a multi-session workshop about the history and techniques of this uniquely Colorado artform; the purchase and donation of two contemporary colchas for the Sangre de Cristo Heritage Center; and publication of an exhibition catalog featuring essays and images of the history of colcha embroidery in the San Luis Valley. These series of offerings allowed the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities to educate and assist in the revival of this expression of Southwestern Hispano culture while also celebrating and elevating the generations of Hispanic women artists, past and present, who continue to create colcha embroidery in the Centennial State.

Caroline Bancroft Award - La Plata County Historical Society – Buffalo Soldiers Return to Animas City

The La Plata County Historical Society (LPCHS) was presented with the Caroline Bancroft award, which is meant to recognize projects in communities with a population of 50,000 or less and includes a $1,250 prize. The organization is being honored for a multi-event program it hosted focused on the history of the Buffalo Soldier regiments established in 1866 following the Civil War and the African American presence in the region in the 1870s and 1880s.

Titled The Buffalo Soldiers Return to Animas City, this program was presented as part of the annual Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable History Live! celebration last September, and included living history demonstrations, lectures and presentations, and a field trip. Additionally, the research that went into the program led to the creation of a traveling history trunk for local teachers to use in their classrooms and a 90-minute video on the history of Buffalo Soldier regiments and their often unrecognized, or under-appreciated, contributions to the development of the West and La Plata County.

How do I apply?

See below for guidelines and a nomination form.  Send completed forms and documentation to:

History Colorado
Stephen H. Hart Research Center
Attn:  Miles Bancroft Awards
1200 Broadway 
Denver, CO 80203

OR

Email to curator@state.co.us.  Please put “Miles & Bancroft Awards” in the subject line.

Nomination material must be postmarked or emailed by June 1, 2026.

Note: Projects must have occurred, been presented, or been completed between August 1, 2025 - May 1, 2026 to be considered for an award.