From the Archive: Student Hijinx!

by Lesley Drayton, Curator, Local History Archive

The Fort Collins Local History Archive recently received a donation of scrapbook pages belonging to a student at Colorado A&M College (present-day Colorado State University) who was also a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon in the early 1950s. The pages offer a fun glimpse into some of the shenanigans carried out by the students at this time. For instance, these two fraternity brothers show their loyalty in a hair-raising fashion:

The scrapbook pages also chronicle a unique stunt pulled off by the members of the Aggie Livestock Club to publicize their Little National Western Stockshow. The students broke city ordinances by leading two sheep and a steer down College Avenue, and were subsequently “arrested” by city police. The whole lot was sent to jail where they were later “pardoned” by Colorado Governor Daniel Thornton. It helps to have friends in high places!

Science at home: Little Shop of Physics is coming!

by Beth Higgins, Public Relations/Development Coordinator

The Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center will be hosting Colorado State University’s Little Shop of Physics on Tuesday, December 22, and Wednesday, December 23.

The Little Shop of Physics is a group of science educators and science students that travels the region with a van full of hands-on experiments with the goal of teaching people that science is something anyone can do. They don’t show people science, they help them do science! So forget the cold weather and get fired up about science with the Little Shop of Physics for four fun shows during the winter holidays.

On Tuesday, December 22, at 11 am and 1 pm, the Little Shop of Physics will present “The Science of Sound.” On Wednesday, December 23, at 11 am and 1 pm, The Little Shop of Physics will present a new show, “Pressure.” All shows are open to the public and free with paid admission to the Museum.

Native American Awareness Month kick-off event tomorrow

by Terry Burton, Digital Media Coordinator

Join us tomorrow for a great event to kick off Native American Awareness Month. Highlighting the event will be a performance by Grammy-nominated Northern Cree drummers and singers. Staff from Colorado State University’s Native American Cultural Center will also be on hand to talk about their programs. The event runs from 5:30 to 7:00, and is free and open to the public.

And dont’ forget that the Colorado State University Pow Wow will take place on Saturday, November 7th, in the Lory Student Center Main Ballroom at CSU. Everyone is welcome, and admission is free. The Grand Entry is scheduled for 1 pm and 7 pm, and the pow wow feed is at 5 pm. Traditional Native American food will be served, and the feed is free and open to everyone. For more information, see CSU’s Native American Cultural Center‘s website.

Collaborative project with CSU Anthropology

by Terry Burton, Digital Media Coordinator

We’re very excited to be working with the Anthropology Department at Colorado State University on a collaborative project to delve deeper into the information we have here at the Museum about historical and contemporary Native American life in this area. This fall, students in Dr. Kathy Pickering’s Indians of North America class are engaging in research projects to find new information or reinterpret the existing information we have in our collections and interpretive programs. The projects they develop will help us in creating future exhibits and programs for the community.

This project was the brainchild of CSU’s Dr. Pickering and the Museum’s Dr. Brenda Martin, with research support being provided primarily by Linda Moore, Curator of Collections, Lesley Drayton, Curator of the Local History Archive, and Katie Bowell, Curator of Cultural Interpretation. The students are working with ethnographic, archaeological, and historical data in relation to the Native Americans that lived and still do live in Fort Collins and surrounding areas. The culmination of their work will be a presentation of their findings to Museum staff, members of the Department of Anthropology, the local media, and the public on Monday, November 16th, 2009 from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm in the Lory Student Center in room 213-215. We plan to make selected student projects available on the Museum website after the end of the semester.

New technology, ancient tradition, healthier future

by Terry Burton, Digital Media Coordinator

A new kind of biofuel is getting a boost from an ancient culture, and the story is deeply rooted in Fort Collins and Colorado. For us at the Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center, it’s a story with all our favorite ingredients: science, stewardship, innovation, history, culture, and local connections.

Solix Biofuels is a alternative energy start-up company that sprang from work done by researchers at Colorado State University. Housed at CSU’s Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory on North College Avenue in Fort Collins, Solix is working on a way to convert algae to vegetable oil, which then can be used to make biodiesel fuel.

Photo courtesy of Solix Biofuels

When Solix went looking for investors for the project, the Southern Ute tribe came into the picture. On the lookout for business opportunities that made sense for the tribe — both economically and culturally — the Southern Utes decided that the Solix project was a good fit. “It’s a marriage of an older way of thinking into a modern time,” according to the tribe’s chairman, Matthew J. Box. The Coyote Gulch Algae Biofuels Pilot Plant was dedicated on July 29, 2009 on Southern Ute tribal lands in southwestern Colorado and is moving toward full-scale commercial operation.

Although the contemporary Ute nations are confined to reservations in southwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah, the Ute people can trace their ancestry back 10,000 years across a huge area of the Rocky Mountain West, including northern Colorado and the Fort Collins area, where Solix Biofuels is located. That the Southern Ute tribe has extended a financial helping hand to Solix and their new technology seems like a fitting way to close the circle and move ahead into the future.

This is hopefully just the beginning of an exciting and fascinating story. I encourage you to read more about it:

A New Test for Business and Biofuel, NY Times

Southern Utes’ Innovation Fuels Colorado’s New Energy Economy, Indian Country Today

An Algae Alternative, The Durango Herald

This post is part of Blog Action Day 2009. Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day, with the goal of raising awareness and triggering a global discussion. The theme of this year’s Blog Action Day is climate change; past years have focused on poverty and on the environment.

Add to your calendar: Upcoming Native American events

by Terry Burton, Digital Media Coordinator

For all you Fort Collins and northern Colorado locals, there are two Native American events coming up in early November for you to enjoy. Both events are sponsored by Colorado State University’s American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the Native American Cultural Center.

On Friday, November 6th, the Native American Dance Expo and Indian Taco Sale, featuring the Northern Cree Singers, will be going on from 11 am – 1 pm at the Lory Student Center Plaza on campus at Colorado State University.

The Colorado State University Pow Wow will take place on Saturday, November 7th, in the Lory Student Center Main Ballroom at CSU. Everyone is welcome, and admission is free. The Grand Entry is scheduled for 1 pm and 7 pm, and the pow wow feed is at 5 pm. Traditional Native American food will be served, and the feed is free and open to everyone.

Northern Host will be the Northern Cree Singers from Saddle Lake, Alberta; Southern Host will be the Headstone Singers from Pawnee, Oklahoma. Lance Allrunner will be the MC, Randy Medicine Bear will be the Arena Director, Lee Plenty Wolf will be the spiritual advisor, and the Colorado State University Student Veterans will be the Honor Guard.

For more information call 970-491-1332, or check out event flyer (with map).

Keeping the music alive, part II: March on!

by Treloar Bower, Curator of Education

I recently posted a blog, “Keeping the music alive, Fort Collins-style,” about the value of music as a cultural enrichment for our community. Lately, it seems that every time I’m in Old Town I can hear live music, from a band playing at the amphitheater to a kid strumming a guitar sitting on the bench outside Beau Jo’s Pizza. Last Friday night was no exception.

My family met me at the museum after work and we walked into Old Town for dinner at the La Creperie (yum). We had Walrus ice cream cones for dessert and as I wiped the dripping, melting chocolate off my 3 year-old daughter’s chin (and hands, and elbows, and knees…) the unmistakable sounds of drums filled the air. Not one drum, not even two, this was the sound of many drums.

We went to investigate and sure enough, as we rounded the corner onto College Avenue we found, lined up in front of the Stonehouse Grille, a sizable portion of Colorado State University’s marching band! The drum major conducted several rousing tunes including Trumpet Cheer and the CSU Fight Song. People walking along the street and those sitting a patio tables at restaurants and on the roof tops listened and clapped along, applauding and cheering at each new song.

What a great and pleasant surprise! The band was playing on Friday night to build momentum for the CSU football team’s home opener game (played Saturday against Weber State and in case you haven’t heard, the Rams won!), or perhaps the marching band played in celebration of CSU’s win over CU in the Rocky Mountain Showdown the previous weekend. No matter why they played, I’m just thrilled they did! It certainly enriched my family’s time in Old Town Friday night and I would just like to say thank you to those young musicians for doing so … Thank you!

(Editor’s note: Marching bands rock! Univ. of Missouri Class of ’82, Marching Mizzou trumpet section)

From the Archive: Feeling fashionable?

by Lesley Drayton, Curator of the Local History Archive

You can get a feel for Fort Collins fashions over the years by perusing the Fort Collins History Connection’s Fashions Through the Decades online exhibit. Images span over 130 years and show a variety of Fort Collins folks in their duds, from dressy portraits to candid “everyday” shots. A few examples:

Golfing gents at the Fort Collins County Club, circa 1906

Thelma McHone dressed for the photographer in her 1930s finery

CSU Fall Fashion Show, circa 1967

From the Archive: Touchdown!

by Lesley Drayton, Curator of the Local History Archive

On the evening of Tuesday, September 1st, I had the great pleasure of attending the first meeting for the Fort Collins Historical Society’s 2009-2010 season. The program featured Colorado State University football aficionado John Hirn, who gave a fascinating play-by-play look at the history of the sport while showing the highlights from his new book Aggies to Rams: The History of Football at Colorado State University.

John’s research has a special place in the hearts of the Fort Collins Local History Archive staff, as he spent countless lunch hours over the past year and a half at the Archive, scrolling through newspaper microfilm or flipping through old Silver Spruce yearbooks. We’ve all been inspired by his passion for CSU football history.

John used several football images from the Archive’s historic photograph collection for his book, including this portrait of Harry Hughes:

This action shot of Oscar “Golden Shoes” Reed from 1967:

And Hughes Stadium under construction, also in 1967:

John Hirn’s presentation was a great kickoff to the Fort Collins Historical Society program series. All programs are at 7:00pm in the historic Webster House located at 301 East Olive Street in Fort Collins. Here’s what’s in store:

October 6, 2009: Wayne Sundberg – Presidents, Pioneers, and Trees: How Our Streets Were Named

January 5, 2010: Bill Bertshy – History of Pingree Park

March 2, 2010: Carol Tunner – History of City Park

April 6, 2010: Hap Hazard – History of CSU Silver Spruce Yearbooks

The “World Window” at DSC

Last Saturday visitors to Discovery Science Center were treated to a program presented by Dr. Andrew Warnock of Colorado State University’s Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education (CSMATE), featuring his World Window — a fantastic interactive 3-D visualization system. Which explains the stylish glasses!

The audience enjoys the "Discover 3-D" program

Show-goers watched amazing natural phenomena in 3-D, including the eruption of the Paricutin volcano. According to Dr. Warnock, “The 3rd dimension is a critical element of imagination that is missing from the worksheets, textbooks, and computer screens that dominate classrooms today.” This was a really fun way to introduce kids to a new way of seeing science, and they had a chance to make their own 3-D picture to take home.