Elsa Wolff will appear as Amelia Earhart on Sept. 23. (Courtesy)
Co-sponsored by Colorado Humanities and the Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable, the events range from lectures to movies plus two living-history Chautauqua presentations.
Thirteen local cultural institutions have come together again to present a mixture of in-person and online events. A brochure is available and all events are posted online at several locations including www.facebook.com/HistoryLiveDurango or www.coloradohumanities.org/programs/durango-history-live.
Over the last several years, Shelley Walchak, former director of the Pine River Library and Pine River Arts, has headed up the coalition with the assistance of Darcy Poletti Harp, Pine River Library.
If you go
WHAT: History Live! Durango, a series of events throughout September celebrating the humanities in Southwest Colorado. Co-sponsored by Colorado Humanities and The Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable, a local consortium of cultural institutions.
WHERE: Virtual and various in-person locations.
WHEN: Sept. 1–30.
TICKETS: All events are free.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit coloradohumanities.org/programs/durango-history-live, check individual listings, or contact [email protected] or 884-2222, ext. 522.
Together, they have organized day-to-day operations. Walchak also credits two members of Colorado Humanities, Florence (Foxie) Mason and Richard Ballantine, for the initial impetus.
“For years, Richard and Foxie have worked to create a regional model of cooperation to advance the humanities by pooling resources to promote events for one month every year,” Walchak said. “Our Roundtable has made that happen, and we’re forging ahead again this year.”
The Roundtable includes three area public libraries: Pine River, Ignacio and Durango, plus the Southwest Library District, Pine River Arts, Rocky Mountain PBS, Fort Lewis College/Life-Long Learning/Center of Southwest Studies, The Powerhouse Science Center, Animas City Museum, Sky Ute Cultural Center, Maria’s Bookshop and San Juan Basin Archaeological Society.
“The humanities is a big tent, and Durango has all the pieces to mold the events into an appealing series of programs,” Ballantine said.
Popular living-history, Chautauqua-style speakers will return this year after the 2020 COVID-19 hiatus. Sponsored by Colorado Humanities, professional scholar-actors Doug Mishler and Elsa Wolff and will appear virtually as President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Sept. 16) and Amelia Earhart (Sept. 23) through FLC’s Life-Long Learning program.
Doug Mishler appears as President Dwight D. Eisenhower on Sept. 16. (Courtesy)
“Once again, we will be virtual rather than live,” said Gary Rottman, chairman of the Life-Long Learning Team. “After much discussion, we decided that all our presentations including the two Chautauqua speakers would present remotely. The COVID situation is too fluid to plan otherwise.”
The Colorado Humanities brochure, website, newspaper inserts and regular radio announcements will help audience members stay current.
History Live events
Sept. 1, 6-7 p.m. Discussion: “The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels,” Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave.Sept. 2, 7-8:30 p.m. Virtual presentation: “Steamboat Explosions and Train Wrecks in 19th Century America,” by Paul Kuenker, FLC Life-Long Learning.Sept. 7, 6-7:30 p.m. “Lost Communities of the Navajo Dam,” by Patricia Boddy Tharp, Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.Sept. 8, 7-8:30 p.m. Virtual: “Reconstructing the Pueblo Bonito Mounds,” by SJBAS.org.Sept. 9, 7-8:30 p.m. Virtual: “St. Mark’s Church in Early Durango,” by John A.K. Boyd, FLC Life-Long Learning.Sept. 10, 6-7 p.m. “The Vocabulary of Gesture,” by Thomas Heuser, at The Powerhouse Science Center, 1333 Camino del Rio.Sept. 12, 1-3 p.m. “The Iron Horse at 50,” by CSWS, at The Powerhouse Science Center, 1333 Camino del Rio.Sept. 14, 6-7 p.m. “An Evening with Blake Crouch,” The Powerhouse Science Center, 1333 Camino del Rio.Sept. 15, 7-8 p.m. Online screening of “Colorado Experience: Press of the West.”Sept. 16, 7-8:30 p.m. Virtual: Dwight D. Eisenhower by Doug Mishler, Chautauqua, FLC Life-Long Learning.Sept. 17 and Sept. 18, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. “Powwow Regalia: Not a Costume Exhibit,” Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum, 503 Ouray Drive, Ignacio.Sept. 17, 10-10:45 a.m. and 4-4:45 p.m. and Sept. 18, 2-2:45 p.m. “Introduction to the Powwow,” Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum, 503 Ouray Drive, Ignacio.Sept. 17, 11 a.m.-noon and 3-4 p.m. “History of Native American Beading,” Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum, 503 Ouray Drive, Ignacio.Sept. 20, 1-3 p.m. “Genealogy 101,” Ignacio Community Library, 470 Goddard Ave.Sept. 21, 6-7:30 p.m. “Following In Ancient Footsteps, An Ancestral Puebloan Tour of the Four Corners,” Pine River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield.Sept. 22, 4-5 p.m. “Fort Lewis Indian School, 1892-1911,” by Majel Boxer, FLC Center of Southwest Studies, 1000 Rim Drive.Sept. 23, 7-8:30 p.m. Virtual: Amelia Earhart by Elsa Wolff, Chautauqua, FLC Life-Long Learning, TBD.Sept. 25, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Animas Museum Live, 11 a.m. Ruth Lambert, 1 p.m. Andrew Gulliford, outdoors at Animas Museum, 3065 West Second Ave.Sept. 28, 6-7 p.m. Online: “Animation in World War II,” by Sam Yeargin, Southwest La Plata Library District.Sept. 29, 6-7:30 p.m. “Theodore Roosevelt and the American West,” by Andrew Gulliford, Pine River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield.Sept. 30, 7-8:30 p.m. Virtual: “Durango’s Odd and Colorful Victorian Architecture,” by Judith Reynolds, FLC Life-Long Learning.
