3 minute read
Broomfield Depot Depot Museum Museum Chronicles the Community’s Experience with COVID-19
By Kristen Beckman
Just a few years after the original Broomfield Depot was built in 1909, an influenza pandemic spread around the world, affecting about 500 million people. One hundred years later, the world is again dealing with a global pandemic, and the Broomfield Depot Museum is chronicling how Broomfield residents are responding.
Museum Coordinator David Allison said when the museum temporarily shut down last spring due to COVID-19, it tried to pivot and find ways to make good use of the time it had. That led to the Broomfield in the Time of COVID-19 project, which records the oral histories of Broomfield residents and collects artifacts related to the community’s response to the pandemic. Some of the recordings have been made into podcasts and one was turned into a re-enactment that depicted the experiences of a woman who lived through the 1919 pandemic.
Allison said it has been interesting to see the similarities between both pandemics.
Photo courtesy of The City and County of Broomfield
“Mask wearing is a great example,” said Allison. “There was a big push for people to wear masks during the influenza pandemic of 1919, but there were also many people who thought it wasn’t a good idea to wear masks. There was a push and pull and back and forth about whether it was safe to go out without masks or if they curtailed freedom too much. We hear those same conversations today. It’s interesting how history rhymes. It doesn’t necessarily repeat, but
Photo by Pat Eichner
Photo by Pat Eichner
Photo courtesy of The City and County of Broomfield
you see some of the same themes emerge time after time in history.”
Another similarity Alison noted is the desire people have to reach out and find ways to stay connected. One Broomfield resident shared a story about how she hosted socially distanced gatherings in her yard to allow neighbors and friends to continue gathering in a safe way.
“That’s one thing we also see in history as well is that relationships are so valuable to keep us grounded and enthusiastic about our lives and positive in the face of difficulty,” said Allison.
The museum is also collecting artifacts related to the pandemic, including a stimulus check letter signed by President Trump, painted rocks with encouraging messages, a City and County mask that says “Stronger Together,” and signs that were posted in businesses around town.
The museum is also working on an exhibit that tells the story of how Broomfield became a city in the 1950s. Created as an ideal community halfway between Denver and Boulder, Broomfield created a glitzy advertising campaign to promote itself. The museum has already collected some fascinating objects and pictures from that time to include in the exhibit which is expected to debut later this year, said Allison.
The Broomfield Depot, which served as both a railroad depot for the Colorado & Southern Railway and the home of the station agent, was moved to its current location in 1976 by a group of passionate citizens who did not want to see it torn down. The building was moved to what is now called Depot Hill and functions as a museum set up to look exactly how it did in the 1920s and 1930s. All of the artifacts and objects inside the depot are from that time period and restoration efforts even included scraping away layers of paint to find authentic color schemes.
The museum is operated by the City and County of Broomfield and receives support from the Friends of Broomfield History (formerly the Friends of the Broomfield Depot Museum), which raises funding for the facility through grants and individual donations. Current hours are Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Photo courtesy of The City and County of Broomfield
For More Information Visit:
Broomfield Depot Museum:
www.broomfield.org/120/Broomfield-Depot-Museum
Broomfield Online Collection:
www.broomfield.pastperfectonline.com
Friends of Broomfield History:
www.friendsofbroomfieldhistory.org
