march 2017 Museletter IGNITE y our curiosity . DISC OVER y our st ory . Photo of Sara Loomis (ca. 1908) From the CSPM Collection
march 2017 Museletter IGNITE your curiosity. DISCOVER your story. Through Her Lens: The Photography of Sara Cartwright Jackson Loomis By: Leah Davis Witherow, CSPM Curator of History & Archivist Sara Loomis came of age as photography became accessible to the public. As a result, her life and our community are well documented. Loomis was born in Rochester, New York on October 26, 1878 and moved with her family to Colorado Springs as a young girl. Living in a stately home on North Tejon Street, Loomis attended the Cutler Academy at Colorado College. In the early 1890s Loomis became interested and quite proficient at photography, also known as “Kodaking” at the time. She began to document her everyday life, important events, friends, family, pets and her travels. In addition to taking photographs, she kept detailed daily diaries and journals that recorded the subjects of her images. While Loomis was merely documenting what to her must have seemed ordinary, today her vast archive of 20,000 images provides a remarkably rare glimpse into her world. As a young woman from an affluent Colorado Springs family, Loomis had both the economic resources to pay for her photography hobby – and the leisure time necessary to be so prolific. In 1909 Loomis married Dr. Philip A. Loomis, a protégé of well known pioneer tuberculosis researcher and physician Dr. Edwin Solly. Philip Loomis was born in Chicago in 1875 and graduated from Rush Medical College in 1904. During medical school, he contracted tuberculosis and received the advice, to regain his health in the west. Loomis purchased a round-trip ticket from Chicago to Colorado Springs, but once here he decided to stay. Dr. Loomis became a renowned cardiac specialist and later in life gained recognition as an award-winning hybridizer of irises. Many of the gardens in Colorado Springs contain specimens that reflect Dr. Loomis’ contributions to botanical studies. The Loomis iris beds outside the Pikes Peak Library District’s East Branch location are a living legacy of his work. Sara and Philip Loomis raised their two children Barbara Loomis Woodward and Philip Loomis Jr. in their beautiful home at 1414 Culebra in the Old North End of Colorado Springs. The family traveled frequently in addition to owning vacation homes on both coasts. The children attended private schools in Colorado Springs, California and in the East. Throughout her long life, Loomis continued to photograph the people and places she loved. Her vast collection of photograph albums, diaries and notebooks provides evidence of a life well lived. This illustrated talk will examine the wealth of history recorded Through Her Lens: The Photography of Sara Cartwright Jackson Loomis. pg. 2
Mark Your Calendar..... PIKES PEAK REGIONAL HISTORY LECTURE SERIES THROUGH HER LENS: THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF SARA JACKSON LOOMIS Presented by Leah Davis Witherow, CSPM Archivist & Curator of History DATE CHANGE! Saturday, March 18th (2:00pm – 3:00pm) Once introduced to photography by her favorite uncle Willard Jackson in the 1890s, young Sara fell in love with both the expressive and documentary qualities of the medium. After experimenting with various photographic processes and techniques, she settled on her own unique style and amassed a collection of more than 20,000 images throughout the next six decades. Even more incredibly, Sara organized her photographs chronologically in a series of albums that span the course of her life. This illustrated talk will examine the wealth of history recorded Through Her Lens: The Photography of Sara Cartwright Jackson Loomis. CHILDREN’S HISTORY HOUR - KEEP CLIMBING! Wednesday, March 15th & Saturday, March 25th (10:30am - 11:30am) Julia Archibald Holmes was the first woman to climb to the top of Pikes Peak! No one thought she could do it, but she believed she could succeed. Learn the story of Julia and read about why it’s important to believe in ourselves when we read “Keep Climbing, Girls.” We’ll explore Julia’s story in the Story of Us exhibit and then make our very own climbing critters. HOMESCHOOL HISTORY FEST Thursday, March 16th & Friday, March 17th (10:00am - 2:00pm) The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum is excited to offer a program exclusive to homeschool families, groups and co-ops in the area. Over the course of Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17, our staff and volunteers will offer a variety of different programming: a combination of our Hands On History stations, guided tours, storytelling, crafts, and other interactives. Please note the schedule of events and content will be the same on both days. Please RSVP for these events at: http://www.cspm.org/rsvp-for-an-event/ pg. 3
RECAP: Phantom of the Opera Date Night & Kids Night Out On Friday, February 10, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum (CSPM) hosted a magical evening of live music and silent film. In partnership with the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, CSPM presented the 1925 silent film version of The Phantom of the Opera in the Division 1 Courtroom. In January, CSPM opened The Story of Us: The Pikes Peaks Region from A – Z exhibit. The letter “L” was selected in honor of Lon Chaney, the Phantom star who grew up in Colorado Springs. A sold-out crowd of more than 120 guests enjoyed the film and performance, along with a selection of hors d’oeuvres and libations. When Matt Mayberry, Museum Director, kicked off the evening, guests were asked if the event was their first visit to the museum and many hands were raised. Welcoming new audiences to the museum through unique events is always exciting. Two guests in the spirit of the evening An annoymous attendee said,“This was seriously one of the coolest events I have attended in the Springs! I am a native of Colorado Springs and always looking for new things to try. This event was right on par with an event in a bigger city. Keep up the great work!” A sold out crowd for Mont Alto’s performance of Lon Chaney’s silent film Phantom of the Opera Children were invited as well! While adults enjoyed the performance, kids had a “night at the museum.” They watched movies, made crafts and enjoyed treats. Parents were happy to have a program option for their kids. Many guests commented they hope we do a repeat event. Thank you to everyone who attended this special evening. pg. 4
Did You Know? Police Scrapbooks By: Stephanie Prochaska, CSPM Assistant Archivist Photo of Jim Henderson Since the donation of the Colorado Springs Police Department’s scrapbooks, volunteers in the Starsmore Center for Local History, the museum’s archives, have created catalog records for these eightyfive scrapbooks. Jim Henderson, archives volunteer, helped catalog sixty-three of the scrapbooks since 2012. This January, he completed the last one. These records are being entered into our Past Perfect database. Henderson and the other volunteers who worked on these records summarized each scrapbook by identifying unique articles from each year. These summaries are vital for making the scrapbooks discoverable to potential researchers. The scrapbooks contain clippings from local newspapers regarding the various activities of the Colorado Springs Police Department from 1917 – 2006. Though some volumes are missing, these scrapbooks allow researchers to understand Colorado Springs culture, examine the trends in arrests and crimes and follow the cases as they close. Stories included in the scrapbooks are of bootlegging, elections, city ordinances, natural disaster response, bank robberies and more. Photo of books from the collection Cataloging each scrapbook provides the best access to the collection. These records allow researchers the ability to focus their search, and potentially, discover new information on a topic or case. We are grateful for Henderson’s commitment to this project. He has moved onto a new collection and will continue to help make collections accessible to researchers. Thank you, Jim! pg. 5
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT! Photo of Fran Worthington Fran Worthington began volunteering at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum (CSPM) in August 2015. CSPM is fortunate to bring on such an enthusiastic and dedicated volunteer. From the very beginning Worthington has said “yes!” to extra volunteer shifts, supporting busy family activities at the museum, helping improve school program stations, reading to toddlers and even taking home construction paper to cut out thousands of leaves for Thanksgiving crafts! As a volunteer, Worthington supports the Hands-On-History school program, family fun days/festivals, Children’s History Hour and downtown walking tours. Worthington shared that leading the school programs gives her the “kid fix” that she has missed since retiring from working in schools. Worthington has enjoyed meeting new people and the opportunity to contribute to the community. She also loves that she learns something new every time she is at the museum! Worthington is a retired educator from District 8, where she taught first grade and was an elementary Library Media Specialist for a total of 31 years. She has been married to her husband Bill for 32 years. Their daughter is a military spouse currently living in Florida. She is a long-time and very active member of the Velvet Hills Chorus of Sweet Adelines. Outside of her involvement with Velvet Hills and CSPM, she enjoys traveling, walking and reading. Thank you for going above and beyond, Fran! We are so glad to have you as a volunteer and friend of the museum. Interested in Volunteering? Visit our website to find out how you can help: http://www.cspm.org/support/volunteers-corp/ Partner Spotlight H.A. & Mary K. Chapman Charitable Trust pg. 6
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