Harnessing the power of #MeToo, History Colorado creates first-ever Women’s History museum
The new Center for Colorado Women’s History will officially open March 21
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Nobody called it #MeToo in Anne Evans’ day, but her fearless, pioneering spirit would have fit right in with that digital media-driven, social-justice movement.
As the daughter of Colorado territorial governor John Evans, the intensely private yet gregarious Anne skipped marriage and devoted most of her life to elevating fine arts and culture in Denver, founding or helping develop the Denver Art Museum, Denver Public Library, Central City Opera and Civic Center park before her death in 1941.
And the Byers-Evans House Museum — Evans’ meticulously preserved brick home at West 13th Avenue and Bannock Street, and the seed for the surrounding cultural complex that includes most of her beloved institutions — continues pumping out inspiration with the new Center for Colorado Women’s History.
“The best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago,” said Jillian Allison, the director of the Byers-Evans House Museum and who will also lead the women’s-history museum. “And if that didn’t happen, do it today.”
On Wednesday, officials will cut the ribbon on the Center for Colorado Women’s History, located inside the existing Byers-Evans House. Allison and her staffers tested public appetite for it last year with programs such as an exhibit about women’s roles in World War I, themed lectures and teas, and a middle-school essay contest.
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