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Luke Perkins, Manager of Communications and Public Relations
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"The Miles and Bancroft Awards are an opportunity for History Colorado to highlight organizations that are sharing the complex histories of the Centennial State in innovative ways," said Kim Kennedy White, associate curator of arts & leisure and John W. Emery family associate curator of oral history. “This year’s awardees continue this legacy by communicating the histories and cultural expressions of Colorado’s diverse populations across multiple mediums and making those stories publicly accessible in new ways.”

This year’s awards recognize a pair of noteworthy projects:

CAROLINE BANCROFT AWARDEE
La Plata County Historical Society – Buffalo Soldiers Return to Animas City
The La Plata County Historical Society (LPCHS) was presented with the Caroline Bancroft award, which is meant to recognize projects in communities with a population of 50,000 or less and includes a $1,250 prize. The organization is being honored for a multi-event program it hosted focused on the history of the Buffalo Soldier regiments established in 1866 following the Civil War and the African American presence in the region in the 1870s and 1880s.

Titled The Buffalo Soldiers Return to Animas City, this program was presented as part of the annual Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable History Live! celebration last September, and included living history demonstrations, lectures and presentations, and a field trip. Additionally, the research that went into the program led to the creation of a traveling history trunk for local teachers to use in their classrooms and a 90-minute video on the history of Buffalo Soldier regiments and their often unrecognized, or under-appreciated, contributions to the development of the West and La Plata County.

JOSEPHINE H. MILES AWARDEE
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities – Colcha Embroidery of the San Luis Valley
The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities was chosen for the Josephine H. Miles Award, which includes a $2,500 prize, and is given to projects in communities with a population of 50,000 or more. The Arvada-based nonprofit was chosen for its Colcha Embroidery of the San Luis Valley Project, which was created in collaboration with The Range and HEART of Saguache, to highlight historic and contemporary artworks that depict the landscape and history of the San Luis Valley in a narrative embroidery style unique to the region.

Among the outcomes of this project were an exhibition featuring the artwork of 33 Colorado artists; a multi-session workshop about the history and techniques of this uniquely Colorado artform; the purchase and donation of two contemporary colchas for the Sangre de Cristo Heritage Center; and publication of an exhibition catalog featuring essays and images of the history of colcha embroidery in the San Luis Valley. These series of offerings allowed the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities to educate and assist in the revival of this expression of Southwestern Hispano culture while also celebrating and elevating the generations of Hispanic women artists, past and present, who continue to create colcha embroidery in the Centennial State.

About the Miles and Bancroft Awards
Named for former Colorado Historical Society Volunteer President, Josephine Miles, and local Colorado historian, Caroline Bancroft, these annual awards highlight outstanding projects throughout the state that further our understanding of Colorado history in exemplary and unique ways. Projects can come in many forms, including educational initiatives, publications, exhibits, and preservation projects. Any institution, organization, or individual involved in interesting and exciting Colorado history projects are encouraged to apply. The awards also hold a monetary component of up to $2,500 to help recipients continue their amazing work. 

For more information about the awards and past recipients, visit historycolorado.org/miles-bancroft.

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that has served more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 145-year-old institution that operates eleven museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation which provides technical assistance, educational opportunities, and other access to archaeology and historic preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is one of the nation’s largest state funded preservation programs of its kind. More than 70% of SHF grants are allocated in rural areas of the state. Additionally, the offices of the State Archaeologist and the State Historic Preservation Officer are part of History Colorado. 

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and 10 other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information. #HistoryColorado