Commissioners reaffirm commitment to awareness and heritage months

• Boulder County will continue to recognize awareness and heritage months.
• Online resources are available to continue learning about Black history.
• To receive this information in another language, please contact Gloria Handyside 303-441-1622 ghandyside@bouldercounty.gov.

Boulder County, Colo. - At the beginning of February, the Boulder County Commissioners reaffirmed their commitment to awareness and heritage months, including this month’s Black History Month. The commissioners emphasized that Boulder County will continue to celebrate the contributions of the diverse groups that make our county strong, successful, and resilient – while acknowledging that the history of these groups is American history and includes both successes and tragedies.

As outlined in the commissioners’ Proclamation Recognizing 2025 Heritage and Identity Months in Boulder County, heritage months recognize and celebrate the contributions of underrepresented groups, and help people understand their own identities. They enable us to honor the achievements and contributions of groups whose histories are often absent from traditional narratives of U.S. history or misrepresented altogether.

Heritage and identity-based months teach people about the histories and cultures of different groups, help people understand their own cultures and identities, encourage people to appreciate the rich cultural heritage and diversity of Boulder County, Colorado, and the United States, and prompt people to reflect on past struggles and successes.

Celebrating Black History

The commissioners were proud sponsors of the 2025 MLK Jr Day Community Celebrations and the annual Freedom Fund Celebration, organized by the NAACP Boulder County Branch. Thank you to all the community members who took part in these celebrations, which were free to attend.

If you haven’t yet visited the Museum of Boulder’s Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History, the exhibit is open until September 2025. It is a collaborative effort to amplify Black perspectives and resource Black historians to preserve and share Colorado’s rich and complex Black history. Please note the exhibit has a partial closure until March 8, 2025.

Residents are also invited to check out these booklists, compiled by the Louisville Public Library’s librarians: Adult Booklist, Children’s Booklist, Young Adult Booklist. These books are available at libraries throughout Boulder County and online through the Marmot Library Network and other online library networks.

Further afield, the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center in Denver is housed in the former home of Dr. Justina L. Ford, the first licensed African American female physician in the state of Colorado. While famous for telling the story of the Black cowboys, the museum also tells the stories of those early African Americans who came west and performed as miners, soldiers, homesteaders, ranchers, black smiths, school teachers, lawmen, and every other profession needed to build up and develop the West.

Online resources are available from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC). The 2025 theme is, “African Americans and Labor,” and the museum will continue its yearlong digital campaign of celebrating the Black woman by showing the heroism and bravery behind the African American Army Nurses who served in World War II through a special collections story on the museum website.

History Colorado's Black History & Heritage online resources include the “African American History in Colorado” Online Exhibit, which follows Black history in Colorado from Lincoln Hills through the Civil Rights Movement. On March 13, the museum will host, Black Cowboys Unveiled: Meet the Collections and Fireside Chat, focusing on the facts and fiction surrounding Black cowboys and their importance in Colorado’s history.

• Contact the Board of County Commissioners
• View the Commissioners' Meeting Documents and Records
• Visit the County Commissioners' webpage

Americans with Disabilities Act Notice

Special Assistance
Boulder County wants to ensure that everyone has equal access to our programs, activities, and services. To request an Americans with Disability Act (ADA) accommodation, please email the ADA Coordinator, or call 303-441-1386. Submit your request as early as possible, and no later than two business days before the event. Boulder County's ADA Policy