Press Release

LGBTQ+ History, Summer Programming, and New Exhibitions in the Spotlight for June at History Colorado

DENVER — May 29, 2025 — In celebration of Pride Month, History Colorado is happy to highlight its ongoing work that elevates the remarkable lives and substantial contributions of the LGBTQ+ community of the Centennial State. From ongoing preservation and public history efforts, to interactive tools exploring the history of Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community – not to mention a slew of other public programs – there is something for everyone at History Colorado in June.

PRESS CONTACT
Luke Perkins, Manager of Communications and Public Relations
303-866-3670 | luke.perkins@state.co.us

Ongoing LGBTQ+ Pride efforts and resources
History Colorado’s Rainbows & Revolutions traveling exhibition, and the Gill Foundation LGBTQ Archives, are a representation of the proactive work History Colorado is conducting with the LGBTQ+ community. This work allows for the preservation and acknowledgment of the contributions, history, and voices of Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community and is possible due to the generous contributions of the Gill Foundation. Potential artifact donors can contact History Colorado at curator@state.co.us. 

In addition to the Gill Foundation LGBTQ Archives, History Colorado has been actively engaging with the LGBTQ+ community through Colorado Heritage for All, which is an ongoing initiative to add historic designations to 150 currently unrecognized historic resources that tell the stories of marginalized communities by the end of 2026. 

As part of its Colorado Heritage for All efforts, History Colorado’s State Historic Preservation Office is currently pursuing a community-driven survey to better understand, document, and preserve the history of the Colorado LGBTQ+ community. This survey is funded by an Underrepresented Community Grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service and will intensively survey 25 properties associated with the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado. Of these 25 survey properties, three will be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places so they can be part of our nation's historic record.

Additional Online Resources
Beyond its exhibition, collection, and historic preservation efforts, History Colorado has a number of online resources, publications, and podcast episodes that explore the LGBTQ+ experience in the Centennial State. Here’s an overview of some of those materials:

Additional information about History Colorado’s resources related to LGBTQ+ History can be found here.

New Exhibition and Events Series at History Colorado:
Fifth Annual Chipeta Art Show | Montrose, CO
Ute Indian Museum | All of June!
Please join the Ute Indian Museum team this June to view beautiful works from artists Dan Deuter (Oil Paint), Susan Kienholz (Watercolors), Marsha Norton (Mixed-Media), Mike Simpson (Watercolors), and Lu Anne Tyrrell (Photography). Museum admission is not required to attend the show, and 20% of all art sales help fund the Friends of the Ute Indian Museum! 

Additional Info and biographies for the featured artists can be found here.

Re-envisioned Exhibition: Lincoln Hills: Mountain Sanctuary | Denver, CO
History Colorado Center | Opens June 13.
The History Colorado Center is proud to announce updates to the Lincoln Hills section of the Colorado Stories gallery. This opportunity to highlight recreation and joy for the African American community in Colorado enriches our storytelling of the Black West. Additions to the exhibition include early 20th century recreational gear, photographs, and newly collected oral histories. The exhibition also features Wink's Lodge, the central social hub of Lincoln Hills, and celebrates its designation as a National Historic Landmark in 2023. 

New Exhibition - Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces | Fort Garland, CO
Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center | Opens June 21.
Starting June 21, Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center will be hosting Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces. This traveling exhibition from Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service offers a comprehensive look at Native military involvement and explores Native American military service, from its origins to the modern day. Why We Serve documents 250 years of Native peoples’ contributions in U.S. military history including Army scouts of the 19th century, the Native code talkers of both World Wars, Native women during World War II and service in Vietnam and the Middle East.

To commemorate the opening of Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces, Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center will be hosting a free opening ceremony on June 21 at 10 a.m. This ceremony will include a Presentation of Colors by an intertribal group of Native American veterans representing Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute, Jicarilla Apache Nation, and Navajo Nation veterans, as well as a short program. 

The opening ceremony will be followed by a community meal at noon and the museum's third tree planting ceremony in honor of Native American veterans at 2 p.m. Additional information about the opening of Why We Serve can be found here.

New Exhibition - Dog Patch: A Pueblo Community's Legacy | Pueblo, CO
El Pueblo History Museum | Now on Display!
History Colorado‘s El Pueblo History Museum’s newest exhibition Dog Patch: A Pueblo Community's Legacy is now on view! A small community in Pueblo's Eastside, Dog Patch is known for Chicano activism, self-advocacy, and being one of Pueblo’s most tightly-knit neighborhoods. This community-driven exhibition is brought to life through extensive engagement with the residents of the Dog Patch neighborhood as part of History Colorado’s Museum of Memory Initiative and showcases the enduring connections its residents have established with one another by overcoming challenges. 

Signature Series - Shavano Valley Petroglyph Tour | Montrose, CO
Ute Indian Museum | Most Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays all summer long!
Tickets ($30-40) and additional information is available here.
Located just outside of Montrose, Colorado, Shavano Valley is one of the most picturesque and important rock art sites in western Colorado. The site was used from at least 1000 BCE to 1900 CE by both the Archaic and Ute peoples. Through the Ute Indian Museum, tours are offered and led by our trained Shavano Valley Petroglyph Docent all summer long. Reservation and payment is required in advance for these limited capacity tours so make sure to book today!

Georgetown Loop Seasonal Trains | Georgetown, CO
Georgetown Loop Railroad and Mining Park | Tickets on Sale Now!
Summer is right around the corner and another season of fun on the rails is full steam ahead at the Georgetown Loop Railroad and Mining Park. Located forty-five miles west of Denver, the Georgetown Loop Railroad is one of Colorado’s most authentic living history experiences and is providing daily rides now! Tickets to the Georgetown Loop Railroad are on sale, for both normal operation days and its exciting theme days such as Wild West Days on June 1, 7 and 8, as well as the Fathers’ Day Weekend Train on June 14 and 15!

History Colorado Events in June
Yoga in the Gardens | Trinidad, CO
Trinidad History Museum | Every Monday in June,  8 - 8:45 a.m.
Trinidad History Museum will be partnering with local yoga teacher Jennifer Allen to host regular movement and meditation classes in the museum gardens on Monday mornings all summer long. This event is free to attend, but donations to the teacher are welcome. These yoga classes are weather dependent. Please bring a mat/blanket and water. 

Paint Night @ the Museum | Trinidad, CO
Trinidad History Museum | June 6, 6:30 - 8 p.m.
Tickets ($ 25-30) and additional information available here.
Spend First Friday with the Trinidad History Museum for a guided paint class taught by local artist Risa Phelps. For June's event, guests will be painting a wooden door hanger! All materials provided. Bring a friend and receive a discounted rate. Tickets are $30 per person, or $50 for two people when you enter code DUO50 at checkout. Light refreshments will be provided at Paint Night @ the Museum, but outside beverages and food are welcome.

Community Appreciation Celebration | Montrose, CO
Ute Indian Museum | June 7, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
On June 7, the Ute Indian Museum will be hosting its free Community Appreciation Celebration to thank the community for its many contributions and ongoing support of the museum. This event includes free museum admission, Native American arts & crafts vendors, museum gift shop specials, a slate of incredible performances from Indigenous partners, free fry bread, and much more! Additional Information and a complete schedule of events can be found here.

Eating While Black: Fireside Chat and Book Signing | Denver, CO
History Colorado Center | June 18, 6  - 8 p.m.
Tickets ($ 15-18) and additional information available here.
Celebrate Juneteenth by joining the Blaxplanation team for a fireside chat with professor and author Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson! An expert in the studies of Black women and food, Dr. Williams-Forson will discuss her book Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America. Rachel Waugh from the Museum of Food and Culture will then facilitate a follow-up conversation exploring how anti-Black racism operates in the practice and culture of eating.

Through the Vine | Trinidad, CO
Trinidad History Museum | June 19, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Tickets ($20-25) and additional information is available here.
Join the Trinidad History Museum team in the beautiful Baca-Bloom Gardens for their monthly gardening class. This fun and informal class allows you to learn the basics and gain confidence  in planting and caring for your garden. Light refreshments will be available, but outside food and beverages are welcome and everyone leaves with a little something to take home along with an outline of the class. 

How-To: African American Genealogy | Denver, CO
History Colorado Center | June 21, 10:30 a.m.  - 12:30 p.m.
Tickets ($ 3-5) and additional information available here.
Join the Juniel family, genealogists, and Acoma Gaither, assistant curator of Black history, at the History Colorado Center for this unique opportunity to learn how to build a solid foundation and strategy for identifying vital documents that will help piece together your ancestry. You'll hear from a family with deep roots in Colorado about how they uncovered their heritage. Then, you'll start your own pedigree chart and discover how resources at History Colorado and beyond can assist you in your research.

Rosenberry Lecture: Foam on the Range: Colorado's Story Told Over a Few Beers | Denver, CO
History Colorado Center | June 25, 1 & 7 p.m.
In just the right light and at just the right angle, a Colorado beer can show you a lot about our state's history. Join Sam Bock, director of interpretation and publications for History Colorado, for the story of the Centennial State told over a couple of beers. Get your copy of Sam's book, Brewed at Altitude: A Beer Lover's History of Colorado signed following the lecture! Tickets ($5-15) are available for both the 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. talks. 

Tours & Treks Presents: Displaced Auraria Neighborhood Walking Tour | Denver, CO
Auraria 9th Street Historic Park | June 26, 9 - 11 a.m.
Tickets ($ 30-40) and additional information available here.
Join Tours & Treks for a walking tour of the former Auraria Neighborhood in Denver, now part of the shared Auraria Higher Education Campus, on June 26. This tour explores the history of this diverse and tightly-knit community – which was forced to grapple with displacement and urban renewal in the early 1970s – from the voice and perspective of community storytellers. You’ll visit historic 9th Street, St. Cajetan’s Catholic Church, and the newly created “Displaced but not Erased” mural to learn how former residents have persevered and preserved their stories and spaces through efforts like the Displaced Aurarians Memory Project. 

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that has served more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 146-year-old institution that operates eleven museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation which provides technical assistance, educational opportunities, and other access to archaeology and historic preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is one of the nation’s largest state funded preservation programs of its kind. More than 70% of SHF grants are allocated in rural areas of the state. Additionally, the offices of the State Archaeologist and the State Historic Preservation Officer are part of History Colorado. 

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and 10 other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information. #HistoryColorado