There’s More Than “Rocky Mountain High”: Integrating Oral History in Colorado’s Popular Music History Exhibit

• In Event: The Music Scene: Oral History, Public History and Community Engagement

Abstract

Before John Denver and Red Rocks Amphitheater put Colorado on the popular music map, several lesser-known people shaped the state’s music scenes from the 1950s to the 1980s. History Colorado Center’s forthcoming exhibit, Colorado Sound: Homegrown Music from Folk to Rock, seeks to engage museum audiences in the stories of local musicians who have largely been excluded from the collective memory of Colorado’s music history. During the exhibit’s research phase, the development team consulted with local music communities and interviewed influential performers about their participation in the early folk and rock scenes. Fostering a collaboration with members of the public expanded the interpretive narrative and resulted in the discovery of previously recorded oral histories with musicians who have died and only appear as traces in the historical record. These lesser-known stories told through oral histories added a much needed diversity in a predominantly white male narrative. Presenting curated oral history excerpts is a central component in the engagement of multiple audiences through museum publications and public programs hosted in conjunction with the exhibit.

This presentation will include exhibit photos and audio excerpts from oral history interviews with Walt Conley, an African-American folksinger who is referred to as the “grandfather” of Denver’s folk scene; Vicki Morosan, a Romanian immigrant who started her own label in a male-dominated industry and offered recording opportunities to local musicians; and an excerpt from an interview with Judy Collins conducted specifically for the exhibit describing the local performers she learned from in her early career. The excerpts demonstrate that integrating well-known musicians with lesser-known stories enhances and diversifies the existing narratives regarding Colorado’s music history.

Author

• Rose Campbell, Regis University and History Colorado Center