DENVER – Inside a historic home in Denver’s Civic Center neighborhood sits a portal to Colorado women’s past.
“The women that lived in this house for 100 years, they occupied the safe space. And we tell their story… Then we tie in themes of important events that happened in Colorado and are related to women's history,” explained Susan Fries, director of the Center for Colorado Women’s History and deputy community museum officer.
The Center for Colorado Women’s History is the only museum in the state focused on the accounts of women. Formerly known as the Byers-Evans Mansion, the space was reinvented in 2018 and now exhibits several decades' worth of women’s history.
The museum fills a void seen throughout spaces meant to showcase history, said Fries, citing a 2021 audit of the monument landscape across the United States produced by the Monument Lab in partnership with The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The National Monument Audit examined individuals with the most public monuments in the US. Of the top 50 individuals with the most public tributes in the country, only three are women – Joan of Arc, Harriet Tubman and Sacagawea.
“So one isn't even… relevant to the US history,” said Fries.
The audit also found women are more often depicted in public monuments as mythological and fictional figures than historical ones. According to the National Monument Audit, there are more recorded monuments depicting mermaids (22) than monuments dedicated to US congresswomen (2).
“Women's history is happening all the time and is really underrepresented in a typical museum or textbook,” said Fries.
That’s where the Center for Colorado Women’s History comes in, chronicling the struggles and achievements of past generations of women.
“We tie in themes of important events that happened in Colorado and are related to women's history, like World War I and women entering the workforce, what that was like for them. We talk about women in civic life, how women have influenced, you know, Denver's history and Colorado's history. We talk about suffrage and the women that worked on that in Colorado,” Fries explained.
The museum sees an average of 13,000 visitors annually and features rotating exhibits. This year’s annual exhibit is titled “Rumors of Bloomers” and focuses on Colorado women’s experiences through their undergarments.
“Using rarely displayed objects – such as corsets, bloomers, swimming costumes, petticoats, and Mother Hubbard gowns – Rumors of Bloomers highlights the ways “unmentionables” have given form and shape to bodies, while also expressing identity, autonomy, agency, and protest,” the center explains on its website.
Previously, tour guides led groups through the home, but beginning Friday, visitors will be able to guide themselves through the space at their own pace.
The museum also features a garden that will soon bloom with poppies and peonies.
“It's kind of an oasis in the midst of, you know, this busy, busy area in downtown Denver. And people are welcome to have a picnic on the lawn, rock in the rocking chairs on the porch. We welcome folks to just be here,” said Fries.
By focusing on Colorado women of the past, the museum hopes to showcase the groundwork laid for the present while inspiring future generations of women and girls.
“Part of the vision of this space is that we promote new scholarship. So we're always unearthing stories about women that haven't been told – and from all across the state, not just in the Denver metro area. Otherwise, their stories are lost to us,” said Fries. “For young women growing up, they can't see themselves as heroes sometimes or, you know, what did that look like in the past? And what choices did women have for themselves that might be different now? Or what are we still working on?”
The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through this link.
