2024 Annual Report
Preserving our history, serving the community
We applaud and thank you for your participation and support during 2024, which proved to be a remarkable year for the museum.
Among other achievements, during the past year our dedicated and growing team:
• served a record 3,585 visitors
• earned several sizeable grants
• increased paid memberships
• engineered a surge in volunteerism
• garnered more donations
• secured a major new collection of artifacts
• boosted social media engagement
• partnered with local organizations to stage popular community events.
Looking to the future, we began planning a major 2025 exhibit to follow on the heels of “Radical Lafayette: The Colorado Coal Strike of 1927-28,” launched at the end of 2022. And we’re beginning work on rotating exhibits. Stay tuned for news of these efforts.
To help us attain our ambitious goals, we’re pleased to welcome two new board members: Mike Pascoe and Frank Phillips.
We extend our sincere appreciation to all of you who contributed to the museum’s continued success.
The Lafayette History Museum grew in strength and stature in 2024 because of the donors, volunteers, students, teachers, scholars, artists, elected officials, civil servants, and government bodies that demonstrated interest and a willingness to help.
If you haven’t already done so recently, please visit www.LafayetteHistoricalSociety.org to donate, become a member, explore new offerings, and learn how to get involved.
Leigh Campbell-Hale President, board of directors
Chelsea Pennington Hahn Museum director
Chelsea Pennington Hahn and Leigh Campbell-Hale
2024 Highlights & Milestones
Grants and donations surge
The museum last year attained a record level of funding.
We received grants from the Greenwood Fund and the Colorado Historical Records Advisory Board. We also received increased funding from SCFD, a cultural funding clearing house serving several Northern Colorado counties, and the Boulder County Community Foundation Community Trust, for a total of just over $23,000.
The museum also benefitted greatly from generous donors; last year we attracted nearly $10,500 in donations. Of that total, the museum received $5,259 from our annual appeal, a 142 percent increase over proceeds from our 2023 campaign.
Museum income increased 65 percent to $146,714, up from $88,571 in 2023 (mostly one-time grants or projectspecific donations).
Putting funds to good use
We continued flattening and rehousing maps in the Louis Gaz Mine Map Collection with funds provided by the Colorado Historical Records Advisory Board.
Historical Records Advisory Board
Museum acquires major new farm collection
The museum received from Patsy Schofield Holt generous donations of both artifacts and funding in honor of her late father, Joe Distel, who for many years ran the century-old Schofield Farm in Lafayette. The hundreds of donated items span the farm’s history.
Schofield’s financial donation will fund a part-time employee who this year is processing and cataloging the collection, which will eventually be made available on our online catalog.
Since 2011, the farm has been within the Town of Erie’s boundaries, and we are working with the Erie Parks and Recreation Department to set up a longterm loan of artifacts to display in newly renovated farm buildings that will be open to the public.
Museum mission and vision
Our mission: Showcase the history of Lafayette, Colorado.
Our vision: Be a vibrant center that identifies, preserves, protects, and honors the heritage of Lafayette while inspiring curiosity to shape the future.
We also continued the large-scale effort to conduct a formal inventory of the museum’s collection of 4,000 artifacts, an undertaking funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and near completion with the first phase.
To that end, we used grant money in June to hire a part-time employee, Ella Striztel, to carry out the project and to oversee the processing and cataloging of the museum’s newly acquired Schofield Farm Collection
A student intern catalogues items in the museum’s collection, part of a first-ever comprehensive inventory funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Proud business sponsor of the Lafayette History Museum
Library hosts popular history programs
The museum periodically stages history programs at Lafayette Public Library, and this January we put on our third annual “Know Your Antiques” event.
visitors, and program patrons grew substantially compared with 2023. The museum drew 827 general visitors, down five percent from 2023.
We added 11 new volunteers, most of whom worked on the ongoing inventory project. We also hosted four interns, paid for by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The museum’s Education Committee arranged 12 group visits by more than 400 students from six local schools.
Like the television program Antiques Roadshow, the museum lined up volunteer experts to evaluate antiquarian items brought in by the curious in exchange for modest monetary donations to the museum. They included artworks, books, coins, jewelry, and timepieces.
“Know Your Antiques” also featured speakers giving presentations on related topics, including how to find and hire a qualified appraiser
Engagement soars to record level
Overall engagement increased by nearly 27 percent in 2024 as the number of tour participants, school
Large numbers again enjoy walking tours
For the fifth consecutive year, museum staff and volunteers offered Haunted History walking tours (pictured below), attracting hundreds of attendees, including many children.
Museum Director Chelsea Pennington Hahn leads patrons on one of the museum’s popular Haunted History tours.
Fine art appraiser Patricia Graham gives a talk about how to hire an appraiser at January’s “Know Your Antiques” event.
Fine art expert and historian Sydelle Dienstfrey (left), assesses a series of fine-art prints
The museum also continued to provide three other walking tours year-round. These tours are a great way to stay engaged with the community and to learn more about Lafayette history:
Lafayette: Then and Now Historian and author Dr. Leigh Campbell-Hale guides you from the museum down Simpson Street to Simpson Mine Park, exploring the early heritage of Lafayette.
Lafayette 911 Former Fire Chief Gerry Morrell reveals a side of Old Town known mostly to first responders, from mine-related sinkholes to the site of an infamous bank explosion with comic overtones
Historic Old Town Former museum Board President Bill Watson takes you on a stroll while telling compelling stories from the past and showing historic photos that illustrate how much has changed in Lafayette.
The museum offers each tour by appointment, free of charge, for individuals and groups.
Join or renew your membership
Become a member of the Lafayette Historical Society and receive such benefits as early-bird ticket sales, a 10 percent discount at our gift shop, access to the research library, and more. Please consider a Lifetime Membership. To join, please visit https://lafayettehistoricalsociety.org/getinvolved/
Membership types
Individual $ 20
Family $ 35
Business $125 Life (individual) $250
Membership growth
A joint effort of the City of Lafayette, Colorado, and the Lafayette Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1976.
Simpson Street, Lafayette, Colorado 80026 · info@lafayettehistoricalsociety.org
Proud business sponsor of the Lafayette History Museum
A young patron enjoyed the 19th-century game of graces, one of several activities offered at the museum as part of Lafayette’s 28th annual Peach Festival last August.