12 Feb Telluride Museum: News from the Front Porch!
Below is a note from the Kiernon Lannon, Director, Telluride Museum.
Call 970-728-3344 for further info or email info@telluridemuseum.org
Go here for more about the Telluride Museum (back to 2009).
THM Collection, 2006-01-093: Stage To Alta 1923, courtesy Telluride Museum.
This new year brings many new programs, ideas, and celebrations. Throughout 2026, the Museum will be celebrating America’s Semiquincentennial and Colorado’s Sesquicentennial through a variety of events and programs. Keep your eyes on our social media and our website to see the events and to learn more about the amazing community we call home.
With 6 more weeks of winter on the horizon thanks to Punxsutawney Phil, we invite you to bring some spring into your life with through Daffodil Days – our annual daffodil sale fundraiser in support of both the Telluride Historical Museum and the American Cancer Society.
We will begin taking orders on Monday, February 23rd, and if you order during our pre-sale window, the cost for a bundle of ten daffodils will be $12 each. The pre-order window will last until Sunday, March 15th, after which the cost rises to $15 a bundle during our live sales event, March 16th to March 20th. Come see us at the Museum, or at the table on Colorado Avenue (located at the northeast corner of Colorado and Pine) to pick up your pre-ordered flowers or buy your bundles at that time. Flowers will be available each day during the week from 10AM to 4:30PM at the Museum and 11AM to 4PM at the table on Colorado Ave.
The launch of Daffodil Days isn’t our only exciting happening this month.
On February 27th, we will be hosting a special presentation at the Madeline Hotel’s ballroom: “Chasing Ghosts: A Mountain Bike ride with Butch Cassidy and the New Wild Bunch.” This presentation, led by Dr. Andrew Gulliford, a professor of history at Fort Lewis College, and adventurer, Brett Davis, follows a modern-day crew of adventurers as they go back in time to the age of the western outlaw, and seek out the ghosts of Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch by visiting their old haunts. Along the way, they explore both the real and imagined lore of this age in hopes of understanding the allure such times continue to have on the American psyche. The presentation is free to the public and begins at 6:00pm.
If you are a fan of music, we invite you to listen to our newest piece of digital media, a podcast titled “Historic Harmonies.”
Each month, in honor of America’s 250th anniversary, Museum staff will be diving into some of the most classic songs about American History by exploring the history of the song itself, its historical context, and what historical themes the song speaks to. We kicked things off last month with Billy Joel’s “We didn’t Start the Fire.” You can give it and upcoming editions a listen on Spotify here. New podcasts will also be released on the third Wednesday of each month on KOTO after the 6:00pm news. Thank you for partnering with us and sharing this incredible history, KOTO!
Make sure you’re following us on social media where we have loads of additional content including our new video series in commemoration of Colorado’s 150th anniversary: “The Power of Place.” These videos will showcase locations in and around San Miguel County and how they have changed, shaped, and influence where we live and how we recreate. February’s videos will be all about Bridal Veil Falls, the state’s tallest free-falling waterfall.
So much going on and the year is still just getting started! We hope to see you at the Museum soon!
Sincerely,
Your Museum Family
Pulse of the Past
This is the year of many anniversaries, not only of our country and state, but for our museum! The Telluride Historical Museum opened in 1966 and has been operating in the 1896 Hall’s Hospital building ever since. In honor of these anniversaries, we will be sharing information related to historic medicine and healthcare workers within American history in this section entitled: Pulse of the Past.
“A Book of Medical Discourses” (1883) by Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D. National Library of Medicine, Digital Archives.
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born on February 8th, in Pennsylvania. Influenced by her aunt, who served as a doctor in her community, Crumpler pursued an education in medicine.
She was employed as a nurse in Boston starting in 1855 and earned her MD by 1864. At the time of her education, she was the only African-American in her entire medical college, and by the time she graduated, she became the nations first African-American woman to become a Doctor.
Crumpler began her career as a physician caring for impoverished women and children in Boston. After the end of the Civil War, she moved to Richmond, Virginia, where she worked for the Freedmen’s Bureau, treating freedmen and freedwomen who were largely denied medical care by white physicians.
Crumpler faced extreme sexism and racism in her work, often being heckled or outright ignored by her male counterparts. Despite this, Crumpler continued to care for her patients, eventually moving to Hyde Park in Boston, where she practiced medicine in her predominately African-American community.
Historians note that Crumpler treated children regardless of if their parents could pay or not. Crumpler’s influence in medicine continually grew throughout her life. She taught courses in Wilmington, Virginia, and New Castle, Delaware.
In 1883 she published “A Book of Medical Discourses,” which focused on the care of women and children.
After her death in 1895, her legacy continued to inspire and influence both the city of Boston, and African-American women in medicine. The Rebecca Lee society is named in her honor and served as one of the first medical societies for African-American women. February 8th is known as “Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Day” in Boston, and you can visit her home as a part of the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail.
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