Our December Volunteer of the Month, Joyce Morgan, began volunteering with the Museum in 2002. She has consistently worked in the Archives on the Back Pages, starting with reading the 75 year-old newspapers then moving back in time to 100 years ago. Joyce jokes that, “In a few years I’ll catch up to where I started!”
The Back Pages is a time-intensive, volunteer-based project, run by the CSPM Archives. Every day, with the help of four volunteers, the Museum shares articles from 50, 75, and 100 years ago in the Colorado Springs Gazette —that is 1,095 articles a year! Joyce’s dedication to this project helps us to learn, and share, what was happening in the Pikes Peak region a century ago.
Like so many of our volunteers, Joyce is a self-proclaimed History Nerd – “I love walking into the building, I enjoy the friendly staff and I always look forward to entering my virtual “time capsule” when I read the old newspapers.” Over the years, she has made many special memories, such as the time where she was the only living person who knew the contents of a regional time capsule that she had read about in an old newspaper. There are so many local history stories that she has enjoyed over the years as well, “The newspaper item that stated that the base for the statue of General Palmer was already causing traffic headaches – and that was before the statue itself was in place – was an eye-opener. And there are so many stories about World War I on our home front – like the army requesting tourist brochures and maps of Europe because they didn’t have any!”
In addition to volunteering at the museum, Joyce is on the Board of Leadership Pikes Peak and a member of several women’s groups. She loves to spend time spoiling grandchildren, traveling, reading, growing my family tree and is a ferocious knitter!
Thank you and congratulations, Joyce!
Meg Yevara, CSPM Program Coordinator
Interested in being a Volunteer at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum? Learn more and apply today.
719.385.5631 | Meg.Yevara@coloradosprings.gov