Exhibits

New Exhibit Opening: February 22, 2020

Una Familia Grande: The Conejos Neighborhood Project

Artifacts, Photographs & Stories will put this once vibrant neighborhood back on the map. Through this community-based history project, neighbors will tell their own stories and visitors will gain insight into the Conejos Neighborhood’s unique community identity, history and culture.

Evidence: Finding the Facts about General William Jackson Palmer

By examining newly unearthed archaeological evidence along with extensive archival materials, visitors will test assumptions, challenge myths and gain new insights into Palmer and his family. Click here to see some of the new findings: https://vimeo.com/344609595

[Dis]Information: American Indians Through the Lens of Roland Reed

New Exhibit runs through March 28, 2020

The museum is proud to present [Dis]Information: American Indians Through the Lens of Roland Reed. The exhibit includes dozens of pictorialist photographs of American Indians taken by Roland Reed in the early twentieth century. Reed saw himself as both an artist and an ethnographer; his images are strikingly beautiful but deeply problematic. Reed constructed romantic scenes that situated American Indians in an imagined past versus contemporary reality. The exhibit encourage visitors to examine the role “retrospective photography” plays in shaping our understanding of American Indians. To accomplish this goal, CSPM is honored to work with Gregg Deal, Pyramid Lake Paiute, an extraordinary artist whose work challenges misconceptions of indigenous people and asks viewers to reexamine stereotypes. [Dis]Information includes original artwork and commentary by Gregg Deal in addition to contemporary American Indian photographs alongside historic images that celebrate the power and beauty of photography while challenging the assumptions of viewers.

The Story of Us: The Pikes Peaks Region from A – Z

The Story of Us: The Pikes Peak Region from A – Z, allows users to explore the history and geography of the area using 21^st Century technology. Open a letter from A – Z and learn about the people, places and events that make our region unique. Navigate dynamic maps that allow you to go back in time to understand how neighborhoods, businesses, climate and transportation have shaped our community. Where do you fit in? Come and discover your place in local history.

City of Sunshine

From its founding in 1871, local boosters advertised Colorado Springs as a premier health destination for the treatment of tuberculosis. Our region’s greatest asset-turned-industry was its stunning scenery, abundant sunshine and mild climate.

Historically, at least 1/3 of all visitors to Colorado came in search of a tuberculosis treatment. Once cured, many stayed on in the region to build families and businesses. Many of their contributions to this community are visible today. The City of Sunshine exhibit tells the story of how individuals, institutions, and treatments helped shape the Pikes Peak Region.

The museum and our partners at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Department of Geography and Environmental Studied and Tierra Plan have developed an innovative web-based mapping tool that allows you to explore the history of tuberculosis treatment in the Pikes Peak Region. To access this site click here.

Beads, Blankets and Buffalo: Trade at Bent’s Fort

CSPM’s Children’s Gallery exhibit, Beads, Blankets and Buffalo: Trade at Bent’s Fort, gives visitors ages 2-10 an interactive, hands-on experience of a “day in the life” at Bent’s Fort. Bent’s Fort was a multicultural place of trade and exchange along the Santa Fe Trail in the 1830’s and 1840’s. In the exhibit, children can explore a carpenter’s shop, trade counter, kitchen, tepee and Santa Fe Trail wagon!

Any Place North and West: African Americans in Colorado Springs

The title for the exhibit is drawn from a poem by Langston Hughes, which describes the exodus from the South of millions of African American families following the Civil War. It tells that story from a local perspective by describing what individuals and families found when they arrived in Colorado Springs, the supportive community they created for themselves, and the role they played in shaping the city we live in today.

Cultural Crossroads: Highlights from the Collection

For millennia, the vast stretch of land between the Platte and Arkansas Rivers and east of the Rocky Mountains has been a Cultural Crossroads. American Indians are a part of living cultures. Native people in Colorado are actively preserving their languages, traditions and history. Cultural Crossroads features striking examples of American Indian bead work, clothing, baskets, and other materials representing over 30 nations. This exhibit illustrates the ongoing creativity, innovation and adaptation of native peoples in a region noted for being a Cultural Crossroads.

From Paris to the Plains: Van Briggle Art Pottery

The exhibit draws upon the museum’s renowned collection of Van Briggle Art Pottery and features the finest examples from the pottery’s first decade of operation.

Ongoing Exhibits

Helen Hunt Jackson House

Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–1885) was one of the most noteworthy literary figures of the 19th century. As the author of poetry, verse, children’s stories, historical pieces, documentary accounts, and a novel, she earned both widespread public acclaim and the respect of her literary peers. Her most productive years as a writer came after she moved to Colorado Springs in 1873, only two years after the town was founded. She completed her most famous works during this period. Included among these are the novel, Ramona, and a work of nonfiction that advocated for American Indian rights, titled A Century of Dishonor. By focusing on key objects in the Jackson Collection the exhibit examines her life, work, friendships, influences and family. It combines an interactive digital display of documents, objects and photographs with a fresh interpretation of her story placed in the gallery outside of the three rooms and her original furnishings of the original Jackson House which have been on display at CSPM for over fifty years. The Jackson house offers a peek into life in Colorado Springs in the 1870’s and 1880’s.

One Man and His Vision: General William Jackson Palmer

Who was General William J. Palmer and why is his life important to us today? New city residents wonder why his statue is in the intersection of Platte and Nevada Avenues while many long-time citizens believe they know all they need to about him: he founded our city, many landmarks carry his name, he fought to abolish slavery by participating in the Civil War, he was a teetotaler, and his spoiled wife Queen left him for easy living in England. Think again. Recent research and an updated exhibit at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum affirm and expound on the information that we know to be true and provide insight into his personal life to dispel the myths.

Past Exhibits

The League of Wives

From the Ashes: The Waldo Canyon Fire

The day after the Waldo Canyon Fire tore through the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum and the Pikes Peak Library District began collecting stories and artifacts from individuals, families, and businesses affected by the fire. This unique and powerful exhibit preserves and memorializes the impact of this historic event had on our community and landscape.