Object Decade: 2000 - 2020

Tea has been an integral drink of Asian culture since 59 BC. However, tea flourished during the Tang Dynasty from China, to Korea, Japan, and India in the ninth century. Tea began as a medicinal drink, and became popular in Buddhist monasteries after the caffeine was discovered to keep monks awake during their meditation hours. Today, tea drinking has taken on many art forms from tea ceremonies, tea parties, social gatherings and is enjoyed by many in all social classes. There are over 20,000 varieties of teas, however, the main categories of tea are black, oolong, green, white, yellow, and fermented or pu’erh, and more recent herbal tea.

Little is known or documented on Asian populations residing in El Paso County, Colorado. The history of Asian immigration occurred in waves to Colorado Springs and El Paso County, and provided complex issues of varying degrees dealing with uncommon ethnic heritages within the Asian immigrants. The first Asian immigrants to settle in Colorado Springs were Chinese male laborers who found jobs in the mining industry after their contract expired upon the completion of the Transcontinental railroads in 1869. With the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Japanese immigration flourished, followed by Filipino migration during 1940 through 1945. By 1972, Colorado Springs welcomed Asians of the Vietnam conflict which included a mixture of Vietnamese, Hmong, Lao, Cambodians, Thai and Southeast Asian refugees.

The establishment of three military bases situated in Colorado Springs accounted for many Asian American service personnel, among these Korean national intermarriages, and soon Asian Indians attracted to the high tech and professional jobs began settling in surrounding communities. Today, 3.1% Asian Americans and Asian Nationals, and 0.4% Pacific Islanders reported on the 2010 US Census make El Paso County their home. The 2020 US Census predicts the Asian and Pacific Islander population in El Paso County will be 25,214 of the total 720,403 residents.

Golden Lotus Foundation, 501(c)(3) recognized nonprofit, established in 2011 in Colorado Springs, is proud to represent the Asian population’s for COS150. The mission of Golden Lotus Foundation is to provide intergenerational opportunities in the Pikes Peak region to experience Asian heritage and traditions, advocate for Asian populations, and ensure our future generations with the benefits of learning their heritage and cultural experiences. Visit us at www.GoldenLotusFoundation.org.

Generously Submitted by Cynthia Aki, Golden Lotus Foundation

The City for Champions is an ambitious project intended to expand business and tourism in the region. Four significant attractions are being built to boost the regions $1.35 billion annual tourism industry and focus on the city’s unique relationship hosting the United States Olympic Committee. The project consists of four buildings, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum, the Colorado Sports and Event Center, the Gateway Visitor Center and the UCCS William J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center. The City for Champions project builds upon Colorado Springs’ history as a health destination and as a sports and fitness hub for Olympic athletes. Once completed, the projects are expected to create over 5,100 new jobs and attract 1.2 million visitors each year. The project is expected to revitalize the downtown community creating new retail opportunities, restaurants, companies and residential development in Southern Colorado.

Colorado Springs has a long history with the US Olympic Committee dating back to 1977 when the city was selected as the Olympic training ground. A former air force base on Knob hill near downtown Colorado Springs was selected as a construction site due to its high elevation which was thought to improve training effectiveness and in 1978 the US Olympic Training Center was completed. In 1984 the project was expanded to include a multi-sport center with six gyms, seating for almost 3,000, and a cycling Velodrome in nearby Memorial Park. Today, athletes preparing for the Olympics, Paralympics, and Pan American Games live at the training center for a period of months or years, while others visit periodically with their respective national teams for training camps or physical testing.

In addition to a US Olympic and Paralympic museum, one of the main features of the City of Champions project is the events center consisting of two stadiums that will be host to both regional and national sporting events associated with the Olympic movement. The sites will also serve as the home stadium of the Switchbacks, Colorado Springs’ own pro-soccer team. The complex will include a visitor center celebrating the contribution of air force cadets and veterans and the UCCS William J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center which will act as a destination clinic for training and healing elite athletes.

The City of Champions project is funded through the Colorado Regional Tourism Act which provides financing for entertainment facilities that will attract significant investment and revenue from outside the state. Once completed, the City for Champions will solidify Colorado Springs as “Olympic City USA” attracting both national and international sports entities to the city to compete in events and do business.

Generously Submitted by Alex Archuleta, Historian

From El Pomar Foundation:

…El Paso County Public Health was selected as the recipient of a grant for its RISE (Resilient, Inspired, Strong, Engaged) Coalition. El Pomar’s Trustees made a seven-year commitment to help fund the RISE Coalition, especially in its resident-led work. RISE aims to enhance southeast Colorado Springs through citizen-led change and utilizes local resources to reduce barriers to success. In 2017, El Paso County Public Health facilitated the planning process for the RISE Coalition in partnership with the Colorado Springs Black Chamber of Commerce, the Council of Neighbors and Organizations (CONO), and the YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region. Through that process, RISE developed a detailed plan for the southeast Colorado Springs community to cultivate healthier families and a stronger community and economy. Resident leaders were selected to participate on the Steering Committee and provide guidance and accountability for the plan’s objectives. Since the initial planning proposal, additional members have been added and the coalition now involves 50 partner organizations.

The CommUnity Trailer is stocked with games and sports equipment

RISE currently engages resident leaders in southeast Colorado Springs to foster citizen-led action to enhance five main areas in the community: cultural, social, built, human, and financial capital. This means connecting people to people, connecting people to resources, connecting people to places, connecting people to opportunity, and finally connecting people to potential.

In February 2018, RISE’s efforts and collaboration with multiple community partners resulted in the opening of the Southeast Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Clinic, a development that has been effective in providing easier access to the clinic’s services for residents without reliable transportation. Further, RISE worked with the Trust for Public Land and helped develop a mobile trailer stocked with games and sports equipment that can quickly activate parks throughout the community. RISE has also played a key role in the implementation of the Transforming Safety grant program, which supports community development through small business loans and grant programs.

Recently, southeast Colorado Springs was awarded a $1 million Urban Land Institute Healthy Places grant by The Colorado Health Foundation, to be paid over three years and used primarily to develop a community hub space and heighten the capacity of the Solid Rock Community Development Corporation. Since El Pomar’s initial grant in 2016, the RISE Coalition has been able to leverage more than $3.6 million for the southeast Colorado Springs community.

From RISE|Southeast
Vision Statement: Southeast Colorado Springs will be a destination for culture and diversity in our city.
Vision: A vibrant, connected community that provides opportunities for all to thrive.
Mission: Enhancing Southeast Colorado Springs from within through citizen-led change.
The framework of Healthy Community, Healthy Economy and Healthy Family committees has transitioned into five areas of capital with relatable goals. Committees will become task forces/work groups based on purpose of the project. The five areas of capital are as follows:
Cultural Capital – Connecting people
Social Capital – Connecting people to resources
Built Capital – Connecting people to places
Human Capital – Connecting people to opportunity
Financial Capital – Connecting people to potential

The local movement for Black Lives has existed since Colorado Springs’ founding in 1871 and continues because we have yet to reach equity.

Our city traces its roots to founder General William Jackson Palmer. Famous for his abolitionist ideals, he was nevertheless complicit in racism, violence and stolen land. Throughout our city’s history, Black Americans have migrated here from the South and other parts of the country looking for a better life. Many of these Black Americans defied the odds, overcame racist setbacks, and accomplished enormous feats. They owned businesses, acquired property, became educated, organized politically and amassed wealth that was beyond the imagination of Black Americans living in other parts of the nation. But no matter how impressive their accomplishments, the fact remains that Black residents of Colorado Springs have always lived with subservient laws, rules and attitudes; discrimination; and institutionalized racism. Throughout our history, this has resulted in segregation; lynching; redlining, robbing of pensions, inheritances, and property; health disparities; police violence and mass incarceration. Black residents have also seen their ambitions limited, and their rise in leadership positions capped.

These racist structures continue to contribute to disproportionate outcomes for Black residents of Colorado Springs. Racism is not a thing of the past.
On August 3, 2019, De’Von Bailey, a 19-year-old Black kid, was shot to death by Colorado Springs Police officers as he ran away. Bailey’s death sparked an outcry in the city that gained national attention. Organizers gathered, protested, held press conferences and stormed City Council meetings and events. Boards were formed in an effort to seek justice for Bailey’s family and to show that Black Lives Matter in Colorado Springs.

Ten months after Bailey’s death, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, sparking a global, multi-racial uprising. Despite the fact that Floyd was murdered during the COVID-19 pandemic, people took to the streets in cities and towns across the world en masse, demanding justice against racist police brutality. The wanton death of Floyd — which was filmed on a cell phone camera and widely viewed — brought stark clarity to an issue that had devolved into semantic arguments over whether “Black” or “All” lives matter. The video made clear that, despite the election of President Barack Obama, America is not a post-racial society.

In Colorado Springs, Floyd’s death was an all-too-close-to-home reminder of De’Von Bailey. Through the summer of 2020, Colorado Springs Black Lives Matter protests included a “funeral procession,” for the victims of police violence and the blockading Interstate 25 South. Fueled by global outrage, organizers across the city and state seized the moral momentum to form a police accountability commission and rally behind the passage of a sweeping police reform bill (Senate Bill 217), the first of its kind in the nation.

As we continue to move forward the fight for Black Lives in Colorado Springs, it is important to remember that anti-racism is a verb. This work is happening now. Together we demand the dismantling of systems, policies and structures that produce inequity.

Generously Submitted by Patience Kabwasa, Colorado Springs Independent Columnist and Executive Director of Food to Power
Reviewed and Edited by Curator of History

In 2017, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic celebrated their 90th Anniversary Season. The organization has been a vital cultural asset to the Pikes Peak Region since its founding nine decades ago. “Classical music has been alive and well in Colorado Springs since 1927, when 27 local musicians banded together to form the Philharmonic’s distant predecessor, the Colorado Springs Symphony Ensemble. Since then the musicians of our community have distinguished themselves in numerous ways, giving performances of the highest quality to grateful audiences.”

With a mission to, “…reflect the greatness of our community and the best of human potential through musical excellence, creative discovery, and civic leadership,” the Colorado Springs Philharmonic provides an extraordinary series of concerts and events throughout our community.

In the words of Music Director Josep Caballé-Domenech, “Music can touch and enhance all of our lives and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic is fortunate to perform for such a devoted and enthusiastic audience.

Leah Davis Witherow, CSPM Curator of History

Ruth Banning operated the Banning Ranch south of Colorado Springs, established by her father in 1897. She sold this ranch for land 10 miles east of the city in 1917, married Raymond “Pinky” Lewis in 1921 and together they formed the Banning-Lewis ranch in 1924. They slowly added properties to eventually consolidate the ranch into over 30,000 acres. In poor condition after a history of mismanagement and overgrazing, the Soil Conservation Service, created in 1935, helped build 3,000 miles of terracing, 50 stock water dams, 3 soil saving dams, and 6,000 feet of irrigation ditches. The ranch was awarded a soil conservation award in 1948 and was renowned for its Herefords. Ruth died in 1962, and in 1963 Pinky sold 23,000 acres of the ranch. U.S. Steel purchased the land for its pension fund investment, and after Pinky died in 1978, the company bought another 7,000 acres. In 1988 Colorado Springs annexed 24,000 acres of the Banning Lewis Ranch into the city limits, an area almost ¼ of the city’s total size. Developers envisioned housing for 175,000 people in this annexation alone. To manage urban sprawl, the city imposed fees to shift costs of development to builders rather than taxpayers. Strict codes charged developers for roads, drainage, parks and trails, plus required land for fire and police stations and a site for public transit. Shortly after annexation the Savings and Loan Crisis hit Colorado Springs hard. The city became known as the foreclosure capital of the country and the planned developments did not happen. Banning Lewis property passed through numerous owners, two that went bankrupt. In 2010 Ultra Petroleum bought the land hoping to find natural gas. The Banning Lewis property was bought by the Nor’Wood Development Group in 2014. They pointed out that houses were being built in unincorporated El Paso County farther east, leapfrogging over the Banning Lewis tract. Regulatory costs were driving urban sprawl beyond city limits, an unintended consequence of urban planning policies that were supposed to reign in sprawl. A revised annexation agreement was approved by City Council in 2018 aligning development costs with other city planning policies. The new vision now targets 62,000 residents. Given that the massive $1 billion-plus Southern Delivery System was built exclusively to provide water for this growing part of the city, policies to develop Banning Lewis help justify the water delivery expenses current city residents pay for future citizens.

Generously Submitted by Dr. John Harner, Professor of Geography & environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs