At History Colorado, It’s In With The Old

History Colorado has turned the New Year’s adage of “Out with the old, in with the new” on its head.

Instead of cleaning house, the state agency greeted 2016 by painstakingly sorting through the millions of historical documents, relics, and images in its care, picking out a choice few to unveil as part of its “Who Knew!? Everything Old is New Again” exhibit, on display at the History Colorado Center through January 24.

Each carefully culled artifact, unveiled by a distinguished host, serves as a tangible reminder of Colorado’s colorful past. Some of the objects belonged to a person who figured prominently in our state’s history, like Elizabeth “Baby Doe” Tabor’s opera coat, cannibal Alfred Packer’s revolver, and Davy Crockett’s linen shirt.

Other items, such as a reproduced 1898 Stock Show lithograph and a wedding outfit belonging to one of Buffalo Bill’s cowgirls, Goldie Griffith, recall notable events and illustrative eras. Collectively, the exhibit, which includes items that have never before been on display to the public, offers insightful and entertaining glimpses into our state’s tremendously diverse history.

This includes a trio of orange-and-blue padded seats from the old Mile High Stadium (pictured above), originally constructed in 1948 for the Denver Bears baseball team and expanded in 1960 to host the Broncos. These seats were saved from the wrecking ball when the structure was razed in 2002.

For a future curation, let’s hope that History Colorado will be able to display seats from Sports Authority Field at Mile High, home of the Super Bowl 50 champions.