Finding Aids

 

Using these Materials

This collection is actively growing and, as a result, only partially processed. Please contact the Center of Southwest Studies Archives Manager at archives@fortlewis.edu for more information about reproductions and accessing the collection.

 

Access Restrictions: There are no access restrictions on the use of this collection. The collection is non-circulating but open to the public for use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies.

 

Reproduction and Copyright: Materials held by the Center may be protected under U.S. and international copyright laws. Reproduction does not constitute a transfer of copyright or publication rights. Researchers are solely responsible for complying with copyright law and for obtaining any necessary permissions for reproduction or publication. The Center assumes no liability for unauthorized use of materials.

 

Related Materials:

• Collection M 195 (at the Center of Southwest Studies): Southwest postcards [this is the Center's general catch-all collection of postcards; not yet available in digital format]
• Collection M 224 (at the Center of Southwest Studies): postcards in the R. H. "Bob" Tyner papers
• San Juan Sampler: Selections from the Nina Heald Webber Postcard Collection (Durango, Colo.: Durango Herald Small Press, 2004). 

 

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Collection Title], [Collection Number], Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.

 

 

Collection Description

Funding Acknowledgments: Funding for the digitization/ online image access aspects of this project was provided by two Colorado Digitization Program (CDP) grants as part of the Center’s Western Trails Visual Access digitization project which is a part of the multi-state Collaborative Digitization Program.  CDP projects are supported through a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (a federal grant-making agency in Washington, D.C., which fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning by supporting museums and libraries) with additional assistance from the Colorado State Library and the Colorado Regional Library Systems.  This joint venture is preserving traces of this region’s history that would have otherwise been unavailable.  One of many benefits of the new accessibility of this collection is that the postcards provide historical preservation specialists with an invaluable resource used when restoring old buildings in the Southwest.  Teams of researchers have found them useful for restoration projects in Rico, Telluride, and elsewhere. 
 

Through its partnership with the Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP) (formerly the Colorado Digitization Program), the Center of Southwest Studies has digitized many thousands of images selected from several collections, for viewing on the Web for educational purposes and research.  To search for digital images at the Center of Southwest Studies and elsewhere, go to Heritage West.

The CDP is supported through a National Leadership Grant to the University of Denver Penrose Library from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (a federal grant-making agency in Washington, D.C., which fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning, by supporting museums and libraries) with additional assistance from the Colorado State Library, and the Colorado Regional Library Systems.

 

A cash gift through Nina Heald Webber enabled the Center to purchase the scanning hardware and software to continue to digitize additional postcards and countless other images in-house. The Center of Southwest Studies is grateful to Mrs. Webber for her willingness to share this unparalleled collection of postcards that she has so carefully assembled.  The Center also is thankful for the work of digitization consultant Nik Kendziorski and volunteer Jan Lips from 2002 through 2005.  Together, we have collaboratively bridged the distance of time by making digital images available for educational research used by an extensive audience of Internet viewers.

 

Scope & Contents: This collection consists of assorted historically significant printed materials, many of them rare, of southwest Colorado. Subjects include Durango, Mesa Verde National Park, Silverton, Ouray, Telluride, and other small Rocky Mountain towns of the Western Slope of Colorado. This collection is useful for anyone researching the history of various Southwestern topics.

 

Arrangement:  This collection is arranged into record groups based on types of locations, then grouped into series by a geographical region, then according to material type or subject.

 

Acquisitions Information: This collection was a gift from Nina Heald Webber to the Center of Southwest Studies (multiple accessions from 2002 to recently). The initial bulk of the collection was appraised on November 1, 2004, by Dr. David Farmer. 

The accession number for the bulk of the collection is 2002:01002 (loan and permission to copy; converted to a gift in 2004 by deed of gift).  The collection was independently appraised on November 1, 2004, by Dr. David Farmer.  Mrs. Webber has added to her original gift by numerous additional gifts (accession numbers 2004:10022, 2004:12011.1, 2005:01006.1, 2005:01010, 2005:03008, 2005:03009, 2005:03014, 2005:04005, 2005:05004.1, 2005:09007.1, 2005:09018.5, and 2005:10004).

 

Processing Information: This collection is actively growing and, as a result, only partially processed. Todd Ellison, Certified Archivist, Center of Southwest Studies, produced item level descriptions, archivally re-housed the photographs, and produced a guide to the collection in October of 2007. The collection is regularly added to so, in June 2012, archival student assistant Kelley McBride arranged and described the collection to the sub-series level.

 

Subjects:

Archaeological sites--Colorado--Mesa Verde
Cities and towns--Colorado--Ouray
Cities and towns--Colorado--Silverton
Cliff-dwellings--Colorado--Mesa Verde
Denver and Rio Grande Railroad
Friendly societies--Colorado--Silverton
Gold mines and mining--Colorado--San Juan Mountains
Historic buildings--Colorado--Silverton
Mesa Verde (Colo.)
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Miners--Colorado
Mines and mineral resources--Colorado--Ouray County
Mines and mineral resources--Colorado--Silverton
Mountain railroads--Colorado--San Juan Mountains
Mountains--Colorado--San Juan County
Mountains--Colorado--Telluride
National parks and reserves--Colorado--Mesa Verde National Park
Ouray (Colo.)--Description--Views
Ouray Highway (Colo.)
Pueblo Indians--Colorado--Mesa Verde--Antiquities
Red Mountain (Colo.)
San Juan Mountains (Colo.)
Silverton (Colo.)
Social groups--Colorado--Silverton
Stagecoaches--Colorado--Ouray
Streets--Colorado--Ouray
Telluride (Colo.)

 

Detailed Description of the Collection

This collection is actively growing and only partially processed.

Container Description

Series/Container List   
Record Groups

RG 1: Towns RG 2: Ruins and Monuments RG 3: Railroads RG 4: Mining RG 5: General Colorado RG 6: Postcard Collection

 

RG 1: Towns

Series 1.1 Durango	Sub-series
General	1.1.1
History and Politics	1.1.2
Businesses (Includes matchbooks, advertisements, menus, etc.)	1.1.3
Events (Example: Spanish Trails Fiesta)	1.1.4
High School (Includes the Toltec yearbook)	1.1.5
Fort Lewis College	1.1.6
News Clippings	1.1.7

 

Series 1.2 Silverton	Sub-series
General/Tourism	1.2.1
History and Politics	1.2.2
Businesses	1.2.3
Events	1.2.4
News Clippings	1.2.5

 

Series 1.3 Ouray	Sub-series
General/Tourism	1.3.1
History and Politics	1.3.2
Businesses	1.3.3
High School	1.3.4
News Clippings	1.3.5

 

Series 1.4 Telluride	Sub-series
General/Tourism	1.4.1
History and Politics	1.4.2
Businesses	1.4.3
Events	1.4.4

Series 1.5: Ridgeway

Series 1.6: Golden

Series 1.7: Aspen

Series 1.8: Creede

Series 1.9: Cortez

Series 1.10: Pagosa Springs

Series 1.11: Alamosa

Series 1.12: Lake City

Series 1.13: Bayfield

Series 1.14: Mancos

 

RG 2: Ruins and Monuments 

Series 2.1: Mesa Verde

Sub-series 2.1.1 National Park Service Ephemera and Publications

Sub-series 2.1.2 Publications (Not produced by the NPS)

Sub-series 2.1.3 Guides and Maps

Sub-series 2.1.4 Advertising

Sub-series 2.1.5 Souvenirs

Series 2: Aztec Ruins

Series 2.3: Four Corners

Series 2.4: Black Canyon

Series 2.5: Department of the Interior Publications

Series 2.6: General

RG 3: Railroads

Series 3.1: Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge

Sub-series 3.1.1 Railroad Ephemera--i.e., tickets, pricing brochures

Sub-series 3.1.2 Publications

Sub-series 3.1.3 Advertising

Sub-series 3.1.4 Souvenirs

Series 3.2: Kolor Karavan

RG 4: Mining 

Series 4.1: Publications
Series 4.2: Miner's Ephemera
Series 4.3: Advertising
Series 4.4: Tourism

RG 5: General Colorado

Series 5:1 History
Series 5:2 Publications
Series 5:3 Advertising
Series 5:4 Travel

Sub-series 5.4.1 Roads

Sub-series 5.4.2 Tourism

 

RG 6: Postcard Collection

• Volume 1 - Durango, early (no chromalithic prints)
• Volume 2 - Durango, later, and regional railroads (chromalithic prints)
• Volume 3 - Mesa Verde/ Aztec Ruins
• Volume 4 - Silverton/Animas Canyon
• Volume 5 - Telluride/Ouray/Ophir
• Volume 6 - Other Southwest Colorado areas (including Mancos, Cortez, and Wolf Creek)