Pikes Peak Regional History Symposium
Bigwigs & Benefactors of the Pikes Peak Region
Sat., June 7, 2014
East Library
5550 N. Union Blvd.
Colorado Springs CO 80918
click here to make reservations for this free event
Schedule of Presentations

8:30 a.m. Doors open at East Library

9 a.m. Welcome & Opening Remarks

Tim Blevins
Paula Miller
Mike Olsen

9:15 - 10:45 a.m.
Businessmen Bigwigs & Benefactors
  • Mike Olsen - Pennies From Heaven?
  • David D. Finley - Edmond van Diest: A Great Man for Colorado, Colorado Springs, & Colorado College
  • Joyce B. Lohse - The Penrose Legacy: Ventures, Vogue, & Vagary
  • Eric Swab - Fred Wade Barr: Benevolent Trail Builder or Tourist Entrepreneur?
  • Mike Olsen - Questions & Discussion

10:45 - 11 a.m.
Break

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Unexpected Bigwigs & Benefactors
  • William G. Thomas - Howbert, Waite, & the Ladies: The Colorado Gubernatorial Election of 1894
  • Erinn M. Barnes - Unwitting Benefactors: American Indians & Tourism in the Pikes Peak Region
  • William J. Schultz - Freedom for Whom? Robert LeFevre, the Freedom School, & the Birth of Modern Libertarianism
  • Katie Rudolph - Mafia on the Front Range
  • Mike Olsen - Questions & Discussion

12:30 - 1:15 p.m.
Complimentary Light Lunch

1:15 - 3 p.m.
The Chief Bigwig & Benefactor - William Jackson Palmer
  • Lucy Bell - “This Little Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let it Shine”: Pioneers for Racial Justice in Colorado Springs
  • Leah Davis Witherow - A Study of Influences: The Close Friends & Business Associates of William Jackson Palmer
  • Katherine Scott Sturdevant - The Ethical Industrialist: William Jackson Palmer & the Gilded Age
  • Susan Fletcher - The Palmer Girls & Their Impact on Colorado Springs
  • Mike Olsen - Questions & Discussion

3 - 4 p.m. Reception and Chautauqua performance
“An evening with Mr. Spencer and Mrs. Julie Penrose”
Click here to go to the presentation descriptions

Click here to go to the presenter biographies

Click here to download the flyer