History Symposium (PPLD)

PPLD's 2023 Annual Regional History Symposium featured, "Art, Artists & Entertainers."

Studying history gives us the tools to analyze problems in the past and positions us to see patterns that might otherwise be invisible in the present – thus providing a crucial perspective for understanding (and solving!) current and future problems.

[Quote adapted from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Dept of History’s website.]

As a fellow artist myself (which is, “as a human” – because I sincerely believe we’re all artists) and resident of Colorado Springs, I found it inspiring, motivating and interesting to hear the stories of these individuals. They started small, faced obstacles, experienced support and continued creating in different ways. Their journeys had elements that spoke to current human challenges. It was also interesting to see how far we’ve come from some of the problematic representation (or lack of) in the past.

It’s coming up again on June 8th, this year’s (2024) In-Person Annual Pikes Peak Regional History Symposium. Register here: Sat., June 8 from 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. — East Library (registration recommended) . 2024’s theme is, “Turning Points in the Pikes Peak Region.”

Last year’s event which I attended, had the theme of, “Art, Artists & Entertainers.” It was very good. And free, with snacks and water provided.

From the 2023 event’s introductory material:

“Artists and their creativity are at the heart of a region’s culture. The Pikes Peak region, with plentiful natural beauty, serves as a rich wellspring of inspiration. Presenters, selected from proposals submitted by academics, researchers, and the general public, will explore the artists and entertainers that have left a rich legacy in the Pikes Peak region.”

There was an accompanying Film Festival, and a Virtual Symposium both held on nearby dates.

PPLD’s 2023 Annual Regional History Symposium – Hillary Mannion presenting at East Library.

The event went from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m. and included 20-minute presentations and a time for Questions & Answers.

Presentations included some history about: the well-known greeting card company Current; the art of Larry Heller (the Heller Center is located off N Nevada Av & is part of UCCS); the Palmer families’ relationships with artists and writers nationwide & in Europe; the 11-year annual LGBT Lavender Film Festival; and a bit about local artist, art teacher and advocate Ernestine Parsons.

Find the event’s published introductory summaries of presentations below.

The presentations were filmed for the library’s YouTube channel. (Click the link to watch the playlist.)

The below photo of a 1990 Current company newsletter, from the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum’s Instagram, illustrates the connection to customers the direct mail order company fostered.

I found it especially interesting to learn more about the roles of businesswoman Miriam Loo and artist Heidi Brandt in the history of Current, Inc.


Many folks might know of Current, Inc. They were huge for a good while in the 80’s & 90’s — many people I knew ordered pretty and/or personalized bank checks from the company.
According to a June 4, 2023 article by Rich Laden in The Gazette, “Current — the Colorado Springs greeting card, paper products and gift company — is not a thing of the past.
In fact, far from it — even though its origins date back nearly 75 years.”
Although the company has changed with the times, especially as greeting cards shifted to more digital. In the same article, information about the former size of operations and what they are like now:
“The company once occupied 660,000 square feet of plant and office space at a 77-acre property it purchased in the 1970s at Interstate 25 and Woodmen Road on the Springs’ north side, and at one point employed as many as 2,600 full-time and seasonal workers, according to Gazette archives.
Now, Current operates out of 188,000 square feet at the I-25 and Woodmen site. Its workforce numbers 160, though it doubles in size beginning around September in preparation for the holidays, which is the busiest time of the year for sales, Current officials say.”


  • Loo’s Artists: The Talent Behind the Designs of Current, Inc. and Looart  
    by Hillary Mannion  — The Loo Collection at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum documents the Loo family of Colorado Springs and the growth and success of Looart Press and Current, Inc. over the span of nearly seven decades. Through original art, ephemera, photographs, oral histories, and correspondences from this important collection, this presentation will share stories of the artists behind the success of Current, Inc. and Looart. About the Presenter Hillary Mannion is the Archivist at the Starsmore Center for Local History, the archives, and special collections department of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum. She graduated with a B.A. in History from the State University of New York at Fredonia and an M.A. in Museum Studies with a concentration in American Studies from George Washington University. Hillary has worked within a diverse set of archival and object collections throughout her career. This includes work at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the White House Historical Association, Colorado College’s Southwest Collection, and the Bob Moog Foundation.

I’d visited the Heller Center for a workshop, and while there noticed some problematic elements in the work of Larry Heller, about which I appreciated talking more with presenter Ms. Goodman-Gaghan some afterwards. Learning additional information about Dot Heller (Larry was her husband) upon further investigation after the symposium was a highlight. A short bio about her work as an investigator (social worker) with the police department / the City of Colorado Springs – work which she did for decades – is available at the Heller Center for Arts & Humanities site (excerpt here):

“Dorothy “Dot” Heller … was the first woman on the Colorado Springs Police Force, and made her mark in the community by working with at-risk youth and on social issues like sexual abuse at a time when there was more stigma than support for such work. Dorothy was unafraid to voice an unpopular opinion, however, and in the 1940s even recognized the existence of what the modern media has recently dubbed “affluenza.” Heller, the only female participant on a panel on child growth said “Sometimes too much money is as much a cause of juvenile delinquency as not enough” (Colorado Springs Gazette). Dot took on similarly unpopular issues such as child molestation within families, combating the widely-held notion that only strangers perpetrated such crimes. Tough on stigmatized issues, Dot was also sympathetic to the plight of young juvenile delinquents; she fought for leniency in cases that she felt could be better handled through social work rather than jail time.”

Photo: History Colorado
  • Mid-Century Tensions in the Art of Larry Heller  
    by Rhonda Goodman-Gaghan — The art of Larry Heller (1905 – 1983) exemplifies the American West of the mid-twentieth century. Through an examination of his landscapes, portraits of women, and World War II posters, this essay illustrates how Heller was influenced by his studies on artistic movements such as the Hudson River School, the Rocky Mountain School, and Modernism, as well as by his association with the Broadmoor Art Academy and his work with the Alexander Film Company. The paper argues that Heller’s art conveys a tension between an idealized past and the rocky reality of the middle decades of the 1900s. About the Presenter Rhonda Goodman-Gaghan is the Assistant Director and Curator at the UCCS Heller Center for Arts & Humanities. She holds a Master’s in Early American Culture from the Winterthur Program, a Master’s in History from Villanova University, and a Bachelor’s from Williams College. Her current research highlights Pueblo Revival Architecture, the Indigenous People of Colorado Springs, and local, state, and regional history.  
     
  • Peter, James, John, Rose, and Dorothy: The Palmer Families’ Transatlantic Artistic Friendships  
    by Susan Fletcher — William, Queen, Elsie, Dorothy, and Marjory Palmer cultivated relationships with writers and painters in Colorado and Europe. These friendships had a profound impact upon the cultural life of the Pikes Peak region. The presentation will examine these friendships through the lens of four works of art that have ties to the region: Rose Kingsley’s book, South by West; John Singer Sargent’s portrait, Miss Elsie Palmer; Peter Harrison’s painting, The Garden of the Gods; and watercolorist Dorothy Comyns Carr’s diary from her visit to Glen Eyrie in 1902. About the Presenter Susan Fletcher is a local historian and award-winning writer. She serves as the Director of History and Archives for The Navigators and Glen Eyrie. She is also the founder and CEO of History Joy Consulting, an archives and museum consulting firm. Fletcher earned her M.A. in History from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. She is the author of Exploring Childhood and Play Through 50 Historic Treasures, one of Booklist Magazine’s top ten sports books of 2020. It was also a winner in the 2020 Colorado Authors League Awards of Excellence. She is also the author of Light and Life: First Presbyterian Church at 150, and the co-author of The Glen Eyrie Story and Dawson Trotman in His Own Words.  
     
  • Reframing Colorado Springs:  
    The Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival and the Memory of Amendment 2  
    by John Jarrell –The Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival was an LGBT film festival hosted from 2000 – 2011. Film Festival Director Alma Cremonesi’s vision was to supplant Amendment 2’s influence on outside perspectives of Colorado Springs. The presentation will cover LGBTQ+ activism in Colorado Springs from the 1980s, Amendment 2, its aftermath in the 1990s, and finally, the rise and fall of the film festival beginning in 2000.  About the Presenter  
    John Jarrell is the Regional History & Genealogy Program Coordinator at Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD). He earned an M.A. in American History with a focus on political and social history. John moved to Colorado Springs in 2013 when he began working as a math interventionist in Harrison School District 2. He has worked at PPLD since 2017 and is involved in various forms of community organization throughout his residence in the city.
  • Ernestine Parsons: More Than the Artist You Didn’t Know You Knew  
    by Doris McCraw — Ernestine Parsons is best known to most as a teacher of history at Colorado Springs High School, later known as Palmer High School. What people may not remember is her work on behalf of women’s rights and her work with the arts community and as an artist. About the Presenter Doris McCraw has always been intrigued by the stories of others. From an early age she was always an eager listener. She started performing for audiences at the age of two and a half and has continued since that time. Her passion for history and historic characters began when she was writing her one-woman show, based on the history of her family and the region where she grew up. After the premiere of that show, Doris began telling the stories of Colorado, the Pikes Peak region, and Colorado Springs.
Panelist presenters at the 2023 Annual Pikes Peak Regional History Symposium held at PPLD’s East Library branch.

History can be so insightful in what it shows us about human nature and behavior in certain circumstances.

The stories of others from our past can hold wisdom for us now. How they dealt with life, were creative, persisted, failed, helped one another — gives us courage and insight in the present.

Check it out! #ColoradoSpringsHistory

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