Here are links to press releases about the Telluride Historical Museum and its programs. If you are a reporter and would like to learn more about the museum, we look forward to speaking with you about the museum!
Haunted Hospital
PR 2014-10-24
For Immediate Release
Tricks and Treats this October
The Telluride Historical Museum brings you Haunted History
Telluride, Colorado (October 24, 2014) With leaves turning and temperatures dropping, the season of ghouls and goblins is upon us, and the Telluride Historical Museum has some tricks and treats up its sleeve again this year.
On Thursdays October 23 and 30, don’t miss the Lamplight Tours of Lone Tree Cemetery. The tours provide an atmospheric evening filled with the inspiring and often tragic stories of the men, women and children who populated Victorian era Telluride. Flashlights are recommended, as are warm layers. Tours meet at the Cemetery on the east end of town at 6:30pm, and tickets are $15, or $10 for Museum Members.
On Halloween night, gather your friends and your courage for this year’s Haunted Hospital. Friday, October 31 from 8-10pm, the Museum will be transformed into a bone-chilling maze of haunted characters from Telluride’s past.
Built in 1896, the Telluride Historical Museum originally served as the town hospital, providing health care to the region for nearly 70 years. Hundreds of sick or injured men, women and children were cared for there, and many souls breathed their last within its walls. See for yourself if the whispers of hauntings and paranormal activity are true this Halloween, the spookiest night of the year. Admission is $10 or $5 with a student ID.
So grab your friends and take in Haunted History with the Telluride Historical Museum this month. See you there! Visit our website at www.telluridemuseum.org for more information.
Questions?
Contact Anne Gerhard, Director of Programs and Exhibits, Telluride Historical Museum (970) 728.3344 x2 and at anne@telluridemuseum.org.
The Spelling Bee Returns! Telluride Historical Museum’s hosts the 2nd Annual Adult Spelling Bee
The Spelling Bee Returns! Telluride Historical Museum’s hosts the
2nd Annual Adult Spelling Bee
Team Spelling Bee is daring, fun, and outrageous – the BUZZ is on!
Telluride, CO, August 28, 2014. Is orthography the bee in your bonnet? Do morphemes make your bees knees quiver with excitement? This September, the Telluride Historical Museum’s popular Adult Spelling Bee returns for its second year, Tuesday, September 9, 7:00 p.m., at the Sheridan Opera House.
“The Museum’s 2nd Annual Adult Spelling Bee will be daring and outrageously fun, bringing the Telluride community together to help support the preservation of Telluride’s history,” comments Executive Director Erica Kinias. Tackling a mix of classic spelling bee words, historical words, and even a few Telluride-themed words, contestants will compete as teams for the awards of Fan Favorite, Best Costume and the Hive Master Grand Prize! Grand Prize winners receive bragging rights and a permanent plaque commemorating their win in the Museum’s amphitheater. Fan Favorite team winners will receive tickets to the 2014 Telluride Blues and Brews festival.
Inspired by the classic spelling bee format, this Adult Spelling Bee has some unique twists: contestants compete in teams of three, formed from local businesses and the Telluride community. Like last year’s Bee, team costumes are highly encouraged. Onstage at the historic Sheridan Opera House, teams will battle it out to make it to the final championship round. Special guests Dan Hanley and Mitch Mishky return this year to make sure both audience and teams alike have fun. The Bee’s special guest judges Telluride School District Superintendent Kyle Schumacher and Town Councilwoman Ann Brady will also return this year.
Teams of three can register online at www.telluridemusuem.org beginning August 25 through September 5, 2014. “The Spelling Bee teams are at the heart of the event,” Kinias comments. “The support they get from the community in sponsorships, from each other in the competition, and from the audience will truly help make the event a success.”
General seating for the Bee is now open at $15, and premium seating is available for $50 for those that want front-row access to the excitement. Guidelines, team registration forms, and admission tickets are available online at www.telluridemuseum.org.
The Spelling Bee Returns! Telluride Historical Museum’s hosts the 2nd Annual Adult Spelling Bee
August 2014Museum hosts, “An Evening with Ken Burns: a film screening and audience Q&A”
For Immediate Release
TELLURIDE HISTORICAL MUSEUM HOSTS
“AN EVENING WITH KEN BURNS: A FILM SCREENING AND AUDIENCE Q&A”
Telluride, Colorado (August 6, 2014) Days before the 41st Telluride Film Festival officially begins, Telluride residents and visitors will have a special opportunity to meet Ken Burns, the award-winning, documentary film producer and director. On Sunday, August 24, at 6:00 p.m. at The Palm Theater, the Telluride Historical Museum will host, “An Evening with Ken Burns: A Film Screening and Audience Q&A.”
Celebrating the 70th anniversary of D-Day in June of this year, Ken Burns will host an encore screening of his documentary, “The War,” Episode Four: Pride of Our Nation. “The War,” directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, was originally released in 2007 to great public and critical acclaim. Episode Four: Pride of Our Nation chronicles the pivotal phase in the war between June and August 1944 – in both the European and Pacific Theaters.
After the screening, the Museum will host an audience Q&A with Ken Burns as well as a book and DVD signing courtesy of Between the Covers Bookstore. All students, as well as active and retired military personnel and their families receive free admission. Tickets are available online at www.telluridemuseum.org.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ken Burns to Telluride for this special screening and audience Q&A,” commented Erica Kinias, Executive Director at the Telluride Historical Museum. “Ken Burns is a long-time friend of Telluride and we are excited about this opportunity to offer a public screening of this powerful documentary.” The program also coincides with the Museum’s annual exhibit, Voices of War: Telluride During World War II, which will be on display at the Telluride Historical Museum through March 2015.
If you attend:
When: Sunday, August 24, 2014, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Where: The Palm Theater, 721 W. Colorado Ave., Telluride
Tickets: Free admission for students and all active and retired military personnel. $20/adults, $15/Museum and Palm Theater members
Purchase tickets: www.telluridemuseum.org
Questions: Erica Kinias, (970) 728-3344 x1, erica@telluridemuseum.org
More about Ken Burns
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for more than thirty years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made.
Burns was the director, producer, co-writer, chief cinematographer, musical director and executive producer of the landmark television series The Civil War. The film was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television – prior to Baseball — and attracted an audience of 40 million during its premiere in September 1990. The New York Times called it a “masterpiece,” and that Burns takes his place as the most accomplished documentary filmmaker of his generation.”
Some of Burns’ other films include, The Address (2014), The Central Park Five (2013), The Dust Bowl (2012), Prohibition, (2011), The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (2009), and The War (2007), which was co-directed with Lynn Novick.
More about “The War:” Episode Four: Pride of Our Nation
June 1944-August 1944
By June 1944, there are signs on both sides of the world that the tide of the war is turning. On June 6, 1944 — D-Day — in the European Theater, a million and a half Allied troops embark on one of the greatest invasions in history: the invasion of France. Among them are Dwain
Luce of Mobile, Alabama who drops behind enemy lines in a glider; Quentin Aanenson of Luverne, Minnesota, who flies his first combat mission over the Normandy coast; and Joseph Vaghi of Waterbury, Connecticut, who manages to survive the disastrous landing on Omaha Beach where German resistance nearly decimates the American forces. It is the bloodiest day in American history since the Civil War, with nearly 2,500 Americans losing their lives. But the Allies succeed in tearing a 45-mile gap in Hitler’s vaunted Atlantic Wall, and by day’s end more than 150,000 men landed on French soil. They quickly found themselves bogged down in the Norman hedgerows, facing German troops determined to make them pay for every inch of territory gained. For months, the Allies measure their progress in yards, and suffer far greater casualties than expected.
In the Pacific, the long climb from island to island toward Japan is well underway, but the enemy seems increasingly determined to defend their territory to the death. The Marines, including Ray Pittman of Mobile, fight the costliest Pacific battle to date — on the island of Saipan. There they first encounter Japanese civilians, who, like their soldiers, seem resolved to die for their emperor rather than surrender.
Back home, while anxiously listening to the radio, watching newsreels and scanning casualty lists in the newspapers. Americans do their best to go about their normal lives, but on doorsteps all across the country, dreaded telegrams from the War Department arrive at a rate inconceivable just one year earlier.
In late July, Allied forces break out of the hedgerows in Normandy, and by mid-August, the Germans are in full retreat out of France. On August 25, after four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated — and the end of the war in Europe seems only a few weeks away.
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Museum Presents Annual Fireside Chats
PRESS RELEASE
Museum Presents Annual Fireside Chats
Presenters from across the state shed light on Colorado during World War II
(Tuesday, July 15, 2014) The Telluride Historical Museum is bringing three weeks of Fireside Chats to Mountain Village and Norwood this August, focusing on Colorado history during the Second World War.
On August 6 and 7, enjoy a living history presentation from ‘Rosie the Riveter’. This iconic persona from World War II encapsulated the spirit of women who filled factory positions as their male counterparts enlisted. Female factory workers proved an essential part of the war effort, as many of them worked in munitions and war supplies plants. Rosie the Riveter has endured as a cultural icon throughout the years, serving as a powerful symbol of women’s empowerment and equality.
On August 13 and 14, hear from author and military historian Flint Whitlock as he discusses the 10th Mountain Division, the light infantry division his father served with during World War II. The 10th was an experiment in new fighting techniques, training its members in skiing, climbing, and survival methods. After the war, members of the 10th played a crucial role in Colorado and the development of the ski industry.
“We are excited to have such a broad range of topics and presenters this month,” commented Anne Gerhard, the Museum’s Director of Programs and Exhibits.
On August 20 and 21, Dr. Bonnie Clark, an archaeologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Denver, will present on The Amache Project, an ongoing archaeological dig at the site of a Japanese internment camp near Granada, Colorado. The internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War constituted the largest mass movement of people in United States history, with over 120,000 relocations; 7,300 of which were to Amache. Dr. Clark will discuss the role of internment camps during the War as well as her work on the Amache Project.
Wednesdays in Norwood at 6:00pm at the Ace of Norwood Livery Playhouse, and Thursdays at 5:30pm at the Madeline Hotel in Mountain Village, don’t miss these three presenters as they share their thoughts and expertise on Colorado history during World War II.
The Telluride Historical Museum’s Fireside Chats are a free program series presented in conjunction with the Museum’s current annual exhibit, Voices of Wartime: Telluride During WWII, on display through March of 2015.
Telluride Unearthed Explores Uranium Mining During WWII
PRESS RELEASE
TELLURIDE UNEARTHED EXPLORES URANIUM MINING DURING WWII
Dr. Michael Amundson brings the history of atomic energy to life—3D glasses included
(May 23, 2014) When we think about Telluride’s mining history we typically recall hard rock miners working tirelessly to bring zinc, silver, and gold out of the mountains. Beginning in the 1930s, however, mining in the San Juans would also include uranium—a vital component to the U.S. atomic energy supply through the end of the Cold War.
Join the Telluride Historical Museum and The Pinhead Institute for a special Telluride Unearthed lecture, “Uranium Mining on the Western Slope,” with Dr. Michael Amundson, on Wednesday, June 11, at 6:00 p.m., at the Wilkinson Public Library’s Program Room. This event is free and open to the public. A suggested donation of $15 is greatly appreciated.
Dr. Amunson is professor of history and the director of public history at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. His most recent publication on uranium mining in Colorado is titled, Yellowcake Towns: Uranium Mining Communities in the American West. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2002).As a relatively new field, Atomic History incorporates all things nuclear including such fields as community, environmental, cultural, social, political, and scientific history.
“We are thrilled to have a renowned expert on atomic history such as Dr. Amundson in Telluride,” commented Erica Kinias, executive director of the Telluride Historical Museum. “Uranium mining continues to be a controversial issue on the Western Slope and we hope that this lecture will shed light on the origins of uranium mining in our community.”
Exploring Telluride’s atomic history will not follow your typical lecture format. Amundson is planning a unique look into a 1950s-era uranium mine through a 3D film. 3D glasses will be provided!
Questions? Contact Erica Kinias at erica@telluridemuseum.org, (970) 728-3344 x1.
“Voices of Wartime” Exhibit Opening and Swing Dance
Anne Gerhard, Programs and Grants Coordinator, Telluride Historical Museum
(970) 728-3344 x4, anne@telluridemuseum.org
Museum Unveils New Exhibit, Voices of Wartime; Telluride During WWII And commemorates the 70th anniversary of D-Day with the Swingin’ at the Sheridan Swing Dance
(Thursday, May 22, 2014) The Telluride Historical Museum is thrilled to announce the opening of its newest exhibit, Voices of Wartime; Telluride During WWII on Thursday, June 5. The exhibit explores the history of the Second World War through the unique lens of Telluride residents.
Voices of Wartime is a revealing look into how daily life in Telluride changed – and did not change – during the War. It captures the experiences of local residents through oral histories, preserving their stories for current and future generations. Voices of Wartime also uses artifacts and photographs from local families, and through the Museum’s recent Smithsonian Affiliate status, has borrowed artifacts from collaborating Affiliate partners, such as the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. The loaned artifacts have powerful, often tragic stories, and help to put the local oral histories in their global context. The exhibit also includes period radio programs, newspapers and newsreels, and engages visitors with additional interactive displays that tease the brain and get toes tapping.
Be the first to see Voices of Wartime; Telluride During WWII during the exhibit opening celebration on June 5 from 5-7pm. Light refreshments will be served during this free event, and all are welcome.
Over 475 San Miguel County residents served during World War II. In commemoration of their service and to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the Museum presents the Swingin’ at the Sheridan swing dance, to be held at the Sheridan Opera House on Friday, June 6 at 7:30pm. Local swing band Swing City Express will be there, playing the best hits of the era.
Swingin’ at the Sheridan is fun for all ages, and a wonderful way to celebrate with the whole family after Telluride High School’s graduation. Don your best 1940’s apparel and jitterbug the night away. Tickets for this event are $10 and can be purchased online at telluridemuseum.org or at the door.
Don’t know how to swing dance? Not a problem! Locals Laura and Lance Colbert are teaching two free swing dance lessons at the Sheridan Opera House. On Tuesday May 27 and Tuesday June 3 from 6:00pm-7:30pm you can learn to cut-a-rug with the best of them during these laid back beginner classes. All are welcome.
Museum Annouces Continuation of Daffodil Days
PR 2014-02-11 Daffodil Days For Immediate Release
TELLURIDE HISTORICAL MUSEUM ANNOUNCES CONTINUATION OF DAFFODIL DAYS
Telluride, Colorado (February 14, 2014) The wonderful late winter tradition of Daffodil Days will continue in Telluride this year on March 12-15th, 2014, thanks to the Telluride Historical Museum. The long-time sponsor of the sale of the cheery bouquets, the American Cancer Society, has discontinued this fundraiser. The Museum decided to continue the tradition and will share a percentage of the proceeds with the American Cancer Society.
“Seeing those glorious yellow flowers pop up over town lifts everyone’s spirits,” said Erica Kinias, the Executive Director the Telluride Historical Museum. “It’s a Telluride tradition worth preserving.”
Pre-orders begin Wednesday, February 26th. A bunch of ten (10) flowers is priced at $12. Order can be placed online at www.telluridemuseum.org/shop or by calling the Museum at (970) 728-3344.
From Wednesday, March 12 through Saturday, March 15, the flowers will be for sale (as long as they last) at the Alpine Bank in Telluride from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Additional locations for flower sales will be announced the first week of March.
Net profits will be shared between the Telluride Historical Museum and the American Cancer Society. Both are non-profit, tax-exempt organizations.
The Telluride Historical Museum would like to thank Alpine Bank, Telluride School District, the Telluride Medical Center, Telluride Bottle Works, San Miguel County, the Telluride Ski and Golf Club, and the American Cancer Society for their support.
Questions?
Contact Erica Kinias, Executive Director, Telluride Historical Museum (970) 728.3344 x1 and at erica@telluridemuseum.org
Telluride Historical Museum’s “Powerful Currents” Exhibit Receives State Recognition
PR 2013-10-28 Telluride Historical Museum receives state recognition for exhibit
For Immediate Release
TELLURIDE HISTORICAL MUSEUM’S POWERFUL CURRENTS EXHIBIT
RECEIVES STATE RECOGNITION
Telluride, Colorado (October, 28 2013) This November, at the 133nd annual meeting of History Colorado, formerly the Colorado Historical Society, the Telluride Historical Museum will be awarded an Honorable Mention for its 2013 exhibit, Powerful Currents: Hydroelectricity in the San Juans. The exhibit was selected from a pool of 112 applicants from across the state for the 2013 Josephine H. Miles Award from History Colorado.
Powerful Currents: Hydroelectricity in the San Juans reveals the wizardry of bringing electricity to the mines, its industrial impact, and the power of water. Along with delving into the history of the region’s hydroelectric engineering, visitors can make their own electricity, view artifacts from the historic Ames Power Plant, and peek inside L.L. Nunn’s memoir. Thanks to the generosity of the Telluride Institute, the exhibit also features a miniature working water wheel demonstrating firsthand how water is converted into energy. Through sight, sound and interactive displays, Powerful Currents brings the story of Telluride’s groundbreaking hydroelectricity experiment to life.
The Josephine H. Miles Award is distributed to exhibits by History Colorado in recognition of organizations that make a major contribution to the advancement of Colorado history. The Miles Award recognizes outstanding projects in Colorado communities in the past year.
According to Megan Rose, Collections and Library Division Coordinator for History Colorado, the awards committee selected Telluride’s exhibit because “it made good connections to the broader picture of electrical energy and its use as well as the debate between AC and DC as systems.” Rose also stated that while the overall competition was stiff, the committee felt the exhibit deserved Honorable Mention because “it clearly draws attention to the influence of emerging technologies,” and that the Museum “partnered not only with a commercial corporation—Xcel–but also the Telluride Institute, an organization that focuses on sustainable energy.”
Cameo Hoyle, Director of Programs and Interpretation, commented, “The Museum is honored to receive this recognition for the Miles Award from History Colorado, an important leader in public history for Colorado!”
Powerful Currents will be on display through March, 2014. For more information about visiting the Telluride Historical Museum, visit the museum online at telluridemuseum.org, or call 970.728.3344.
Telluride Historical Museum selected for Smithsonian “Places of Innovation” award
PR 2013-11-5 THM’s “Places of Invention” Exhibit
For Immediate Release
TELLURIDE HISTORICAL MUSEUM SELECTED FOR PRESTIGIOUS SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION “PLACES OF INVENTION” EXHIBIT
Telluride, Colorado (November, 5 2013) In Telluride’s rugged and isolated environment, innovation and adaptation has allowed the town to prosper and reinvent itself for generations. In recognizing Telluride’s unique and innovative history, the Telluride Historical Museum has been selected to participate in the Smithsonian Institution’s prestigious “Places of Invention” exhibition project in 2014 – one of only seven museums in the country to earn this distinction.
The Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation received a $2.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support science education through the center’s “Places of Invention” exhibition project. “Places of Invention,” a planned 3,500-square-foot exhibition at the National Museum of American History will feature a selection of “hot spots” of invention and innovation—places where a critical mass of inventive people, networks, institutions, funding and other resources come together and creativity flourishes. In 2014, Telluride will now be among them.
The “Places of Invention” represents a new model in exhibition design where content is co-created in a collaborative manner by the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center, professional partners, and the public.
“We are thrilled that the Museum and Telluride was selected to participate in the Smithsonian Institution’s ‘Places of Invention’ program’,” said the Museum’s executive director, Erica Kinias. “Having Telluride recognized as an innovative leader by our Smithsonian partners is an incredible honor and is testimony to Telluride’s strong history of innovative residents.”
The Telluride Historical Museum will be working with community partners, including The Pinhead Institute, to create a short documentary showcasing how Telluride has been on the cutting edge of invention and innovation since the mining boom in the mid- and late 1800s. The documentary will be shown in the National Museum of American History and in Telluride, and will honor the relationship between generations of innovation, building on what came before to create the future.
In 2014, the Telluride Historical Museum will also be hosting a unique public program highlighting some of Telluride’s historic innovations, including the world’s first commercial long-distance transmission and use of AC generated power at Ames in 1891. This TED Talks-style program will showcase local solutions and innovations to the region’s most pressing social and environmental concerns. Along with The Pinhead Institute, the Museum will also create curriculum-based and family programs that engage and inspire youth in the creative thinking and problem-solving processes.
The Telluride Historical Museum was designated an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in June 2013, a distinction earned by demonstrating the highest standards of quality and sharing the Smithsonian’s mission to tell America’s story through art, history and science.
More about the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center. The Lemelson Center is dedicated to exploring invention in history and encouraging inventive creativity in young people. It is supported by The Lemelson Foundation, a private philanthropy established by one of the country’s most prolific inventors, Jerome Lemelson, and his family. The Center is located in Washington D.C. For more information, visit http://invention.smithsonian.org.
Telluride Historical Museum presents the 1st Annual Adult Spelling Bee
2013-07-02 PR
For Immediate Release
Telluride Historical Museum presents the 1st Annual Adult Spelling Bee
New community event is daring, fun, and outright outrageous – the BUZZ is on!
Telluride, CO, July 2, 2013. Is orthography the bee in your bonnet? Do morphemes make your bees knees quiver with excitement? This summer, make a beeline for the 1st Annual Adult Spelling Bee – a unique, community-driven fundraiser presented by the Telluride Historical Museum, on Wednesday, July 17, at the Sheridan Opera House. “The 1st Annual Adult Spelling Bee will be daring and outrageously fun, bringing Telluride’s community together to celebrate what makes us unique,” comments Executive Director Erica Kinias. Tackling a mix of classic spelling bee words, historical words, and even a few Telluride-themed words, contestants will compete as teams for the awards of Fan Favorite, Best Costume and the Hive Master Grand Prize!
Inspired by the classic spelling bee format, this Adult Spelling Bee has some unique twists: contestants compete in teams of three, formed from local businesses and the Telluride community. Onstage at the historic Sheridan Opera House, teams will battle it out to make it to the final championship round. The competition heats up even further as teams earn Word Passes, Lifelines, and Spelligans to help advance them through the Bee. “The Spelling Bee teams are at the heart of the event,” Kinias comments. “The support they get from the community in sponsorships, from each other in the competition, and from the audience will truly help make the event a success.”
General seating for the Bee is now open at $15, and premium seating is available for $50 for those that want front-row access to the excitement. Guidelines, team registration forms, and admission tickets are available online at www.telluridemuseum.org.