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It’s been a whirlwind of a year here at the White River Museum, and if you’ve passed by lately, you’ve probably noticed we look a little different! To say we’ve been "busy" feels like the understatement of the century. We’ve been rolling up our sleeves, climbing ladders, and digging deep into our archives to make sure our museum reflects the vibrant, resilient spirit of Meeker. Here is a look at what we’ve been up to for the Sesquisemiquincentennial year:  The first thing you’ll spot is our brand-new roof sign, standing tall and welcoming visitors from near and far. But the real showstopper is the soon-to-be stunning mural, designed by Ben Quinn and being painted with help from some talented Meeker High School students. It brings a burst of local artistry and energy to our walls, blending the talent of our youth with the stories of our past, further enmeshing our art and historic district.
Our mission doesn't stop at the museum doors. We’ve been hard at work on:
Accuracy Matters: Refreshing Our Story History isn't just about dates; it’s about telling the right story. We’re working on refreshing our historic information signs with updated verbiage that more accurately and respectfully describes the Meeker Incident. Providing a clear, truthful context for our local history is a responsibility we take seriously. Capturing "History in the Making" History didn't end a hundred years ago—it’s happening right now. We’ve recently designed new signage to go up on Cemetery Hill documenting the Lee and Elk fires of last year, along with directional signage that helps visitors better understand the history of the Valley. While these events, both past and present, were challenging for our community, documenting them ensures that future generations understand the trials we faced and how we moved forward. The Spirit of the White River Valley If the past couple of years have taught us anything, it’s that one thing stands true about Meeker and the White River Valley: we persevere. Whether it's surviving wildfires or working tirelessly to preserve our heritage, this community doesn't back down. We take the hardships, we learn from them, and we come out on top every single time. Nothing gets us down. We couldn’t be more excited for you to see these changes in person. To hear more about everything we've been working on and hear Ms. Casey's History Scholars' presentations, join us for salads and Sesquisemi-fun at the RBCHS Quarterly Membership Meeting on Sunday, April 19th at 1:00PM in the Heritage Culture Center!
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A traveling version of the thought-provoking Smithsonian exhibition “Americans” will begin a six-year national tour in August. Based on the major exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, “Americans” explores how deeply intertwined American Indians are in the history, popular culture and identity of the United States.
Through a collaboration between the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) and state humanities councils and cultural organizations, “Americans” will launch simultaneous yearlong tours of Kansas, Kentucky and Colorado. The exhibition opens Aug. 23 at the River Discovery Center in Paducah, Kentucky, and the Watkins Museum of History in Lawrence, Kansas, in partnership with Haskell Cultural Center and Museum. It will open Sept. 13 at Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate, in Fort Garland, Colorado. “Americans” will travel to small towns across approximately 20 states throughout the next six years. The full tour itinerary can be viewed online. Based on a major exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., “Americans” highlights the ways in which American Indians have been part of the nation’s identity since before the country began. Images of American Indians are everywhere, from imagery on commercial products and professional and high school sports mascots, to classic Westerns and episodes of Seinfeld and South Park. Indian names are everywhere too, from state, city and street names to the Tomahawk missile. Beyond these images and names are familiar historical events and stories—Thanksgiving, Pocahontas, the Trail of Tears and Battle of Little Bighorn—that have become part of everyday conversation. These images, words and stories offer insight into how the country’s history and identity have been influenced by its relationship with American Indians. Through photographs, hands-on interactives, objects and videos, the exhibition offers a new way of understanding a country forever fascinated, conflicted, and shaped by its relationship with American Indians. A short, animated film, The Invention of Thanksgiving, provides a whimsical take on how a simple meal shared between Native Americans and early English settlers evolved into a central part of America’s traditional origin story and a national holiday. The exhibition examines three stories that are part of American national consciousness and popular culture. The first is devoted to Pocahontas, the young Powhatan woman who played a key role in saving the colony of Jamestown. Another story explores the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Signed by President Andrew Jackson, the act envisioned a United States without Indians. One of the boldest and most far-reaching laws in American history, removal transformed the country—generating great wealth for the nation and catastrophe for Native Americans. The third looks at the complicated story of the Battle of Little Bighorn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand. “Americans” explores how these events have been remembered and represented throughout the years. Designed for small-town museums, libraries and cultural organizations, “Americans” will serve as a community meeting place for conversations. With the support and guidance of state humanities councils, these towns will develop complementary exhibits, host public programs and facilitate educational initiatives to further explore this complicated history and to share local stories about Native American identity and representation in American culture. “Americans” was developed by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibition was adapted for travel by MoMS, a collaboration between the Smithsonian and state humanities councils and other organizations across the country. Support is provided by the Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation’s 250th. Signature support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. About Museum on Main Street (MoMS). MoMS is a collaboration of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service | Smithsonian Affiliations and state partner organizations. It serves museums, libraries and historical societies in rural areas, where about one-fifth of all Americans live. The partnership brings exhibitions, educational resources and programming to small towns across America. MoMS has visited all 50 U.S. states as well as Guam and inspired over 1,900 towns to rediscover their local histories while finding a renewed sense of community pride. Visit online at museumonmainstreet.org. The Rio Blanco County Historical Society’s Annual Meeting was held at Old West Heritage Culture Center. A Pork Roast was complimented by a number of side dishes brought as a pot luck. Everything was pretty darn good.
Each of the board or Committee Chairs shared what they had been doing. There were a number of questions answered and a discussion to follow with this year’s events and ideas for fundraisers. Eleven new members were welcomed. Elections were then held to fill the board vacancies. Approval for Officers and Board Members for 2023 were: President: Niki Turner Vice President: Chance Walker Treasurer: Stacy Kincher Secretary: Emily Mohr Board Members: Nancy Harmon Richardson Sparky Pappas Steven Brickey Kay Bivens Jasmyn Denney Luke Trout AuthorJanet Clark Light will again be shining into Coal Creek School. The above picture windows shows the windows at Coal Creek School before they were installed. Each of the windows had to be rebuilt as only two partial original windows were left in the school. Alan Nielsen and Josh DeBerge of MM-Eight Construction worked diligently replicating the original windows. Each window had to be numbered so it fits in a specific opening.
The interior has been restored as closely as possible to its 1892-1948 appearance while making it usable today for special school, community and tourism events. The ceiling and insulation are completed and the walls will soon be plastered to have the appearance of the original walls. Electricity has been installed but is being kept as inconspicuous as possible. Coal Creek School, is on the National Register of Historic Places, the Colorado Register of Historic Properties, and the Rio Blanco County Preservation Register. Positioning the belfry, Grading and landscaping the property is expected to occur in 2020. The Coal Creek School can be used as an educational center showing the historical importance of rural schools in Rio Blanco County. It will also be available for events such as reunions, meetings, weddings, etc. For more information on this project please contact one of the Rural School Project team members. Janet Clark 878-4628 Marge Rogers 878-4752 Martha Cole 878-5326 Ellen Reichert 878-5678 With funding received from the Fairfield Committee, the Town of Meeker, and a number of fundraisers and donations, the basic construction phases to transform the main room and lobby of the Old West Heritage Culture Center have been complete.
The heritage culture center main room has been the venue for multiple uses from RBCHS historical presentations and quarterly meetings, monthly Chamber of Commerce Main Street Program meetings, Heritage Tourism Planning meetings, Water Conservation District Meeting, ERBM haunted house, State Historic Preservation Workshop, Agritourism Workshops, Meeker Arts and Culture Council monthly board meetings, Kid’s Culture Club, History Camp and more. Even though the décor is still stuck in the 1970’s, building use has been in high demand and served the community well. However, the dream from the beginning was to remove the dated interior design and create an “old west” theme mini-theater with a high-quality home theater system to provide classics, documentaries, and historic films for heritage education goals. The Sustainable Revenue Plan also includes renting the space out for birthdays, anniversaries, reunions and other special events that would benefit from having a theater themed party. Other parts of the building serve RBCHS and MACC as storage and serves the Research Committee as an archival center, genealogy lab and research room that is actively being used to serve the community. The Rio Blanco County Historical Society, and HCC committee are a motivated group that realizes the dreams that have come to pass so far in programming and extensive heritage education and tourism efforts, all began with small steps and what they had in their hand. To date, the Heritage Culture Center Committee and the Heritage Tourism Task Force has raised a total of $19,000 from three sources: Freeman Fairfield Grant Trust, WREA and Colorado Grand. Other grant submissions are in the works. . To financially support this project, our Project Support page provides you with an opportunity to do so online. Just specify in the payment memo what you would like for the money to go toward. Thursday was “Newspaper” Day at History Camp! With 37 excited kids divided up into two groups rotating from a historic power point presentation to a tour at the museum to an activity in making their own front page news – the kids learned about James Lyttle the founder of the newspaper, how the old printing press equipment worked back in the day, how the newspaper is created today and also got to meet the current owner/editor of the Herald Times! Here’s the story the children heard about James Lyttle, the founder of the newspaper in 1885… Letter by Letter, Line by Line |
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