We the People: Hands-On History

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

We are kicking off the museum’s 2026 “We the People” lecture series with a special opportunity to examine material from the CSPM’s archive! Historian Amy Kohout will offer some framing and historical context for reflecting on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood in 2026.

And then, with support from CSPM staff, she will invite participants to practice the skills historians use to interpret the past. How do historians build an understanding of a complex and multi-perspectival past? What can letters, diaries, newspapers, maps, and photographs reveal about the past? How do we use these sources to make arguments and tell stories that accurately reflect our history? Join Dr. Kohout and our staff in thinking like a historian at our first “We the People” event of 2026.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Amy Kohout is Associate Professor of History and Co-Chair of the Environmental Studies and Science Program at Colorado College. She works on U.S. cultural and environmental history, and her research and teaching interests include the U.S. West, American empire, museum studies, the history of natural history, and world’s fairs.

She earned her B.A. in history from Yale University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Cornell University. Amy’s first book, Taking the Field: Soldiers, Nature, and Empire on American Frontiers was published in January 2023 with the University of Nebraska Press, as part of their Many Wests series. Taking the Field received two awards from the Western History Association in 2024: the Hal K. Rothman Book Prize, awarded annually for the best book in western environmental history, and the Robert M. Utley Book Prize, awarded annually for the best book on the military history of the frontier and western North America.

In addition to publishing in Museum History, Sustainability Science, Rethinking History, The Appendix, and A Companion to the History of American Science, Amy has worked on multiple public-facing, collaborative projects centering historical research and writing. And together with our Curator of History, Leah Davis Witherow, Amy coordinates a summer fellowship in public history for Colorado College history majors at the museum!

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