Museum of Western Colorado
Research Center and Library

Judy Prosser-Armstrong, Librarian & Archivist
Donna Roberts & Carolyn Howard
Genealogical Instructors/Researchers
248 S. 4th St., Grand Junction, CO 81501
(970) 242-0971/241-6105

Services Supporting Genealogical / Historical Research

For more information about the following services, contact the Museum at (970) 242-0971. Collections, including books, are for in-house only. Museum trips, classes and special events are advertised in the local media. Museum members receive first notification of events through the Museum's newsletter, Museum Times, and generally receive a discount on admission fees.

1. TRIPS: Three five-day trips and one four-day trip annually transport genealogical researchers to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Trips are offered in conjunction with the Grand Junction Family History Library, a branch of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Mesa County Genealogical Society. These research trips are open to anyone wishing to conduct genealogical research; they are not limited to members of the sponsoring organizations.

2. CLASSES: In 1993 the Museum began offering beginning courses in genealogy. More are being planned, including classes involving intermediate and advanced research techniques.

3. SPEAKERS: From time to time the Museum hosts speakers whose topics are of particular relevance to genealogical and historical researchers.

4. RESEARCH CONSULTATIONS/REFERRAL: Museum staff are available, through prior appointment, to assist with research questions. If staff cannot directly assist, they will suggest other agencies and organizations. These include information on historical societies and other local, state and federal agencies available to assist with genealogical/historical inquiries. The Museum also actively works with many local organizations to address inquiries/referrrals. These include the Mesa County Genealogical Society, the Mesa County Historical Society, the Mesa County Public Library District, the LDS Family History Center, Grand Junction Branch, the Western Colorado Chapter of the Territorial Daughters of Colorado, Mesa State College, and Grand Junction and Mesa County governmental agencies.

5. CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE: The Museum staff offers advice, publications, audio-visual programs, catalogs and contacts with conservators to assist with preservation needs. MWC can assist with the preservation of 3-dimensional artifacts, photographs, works made of paper, electronic media and microforms.

6. HOW-TO-BOOKS: The Museum maintains a small library of how-to-conduct research books including copies of the Source, Ancestry's Redbook, The Handybook for Genealogists; volumes on how to best use county courthouses; and publications documenting the holdings of the Rocky Mountain Branch of the Federal Archives (Denver). The Museum subscribes to Heritage Quest (1991-present), and historical publications including The Journal of the Western Slope (Mesa State College), and the Colorado Heritage (State Historical Society of Colorado).

7. LOCAL HISTORY BOOKS/FAMILY HISTORIES/PAMPHLETS

8. MANUSCRIPT HOLDINGS:

9. PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS: Over 18,000 photographic images document Colorado west including aerial photographs from the Upper Green River Survey (1937) and an early 1950's survey; family and individual portraits; and others documenting the many facets of regional livelihood including the Uranium boom period of the 1950's.

10. CARTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS: Includes the Hayden Survey (1881), Mesa County Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, selected USGS maps, a small collection of early Western Colorado/Mesa County maps, and uranium claim maps produced by the Union Mines Development Company during WW II.

11. MICROGRAPHIC/NEWSPAPER MATERIAL: Holdings include various microforms of selected, early Mesa County newspapers and various issues of the Palisade Tribune. Copies of the historical issues produced by the Daily Sentinel newspaper (50th Sentinel anniversary; U.S. Bi-centennial; Grand Junction 75th and Centennial celebrations) and the Grand Valley Gazette (local historical newspaper, published during the Bicentennial) are available to researchers.

12. AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS: The MWC coordinates the Mesa County Oral History Project, with currently over 2000 hours of recorded interviews. The audio-visual material holdings include the original tapes of the Mesa County Oral History Collection, historical slide shows and videotapes. Copies of many of the slide shows and videos are available for check out to groups through the Museum's Curator of Education.

13. CONTEMPORARY CLIPPING FILE: The Museum maintains a clipping file of Western Colorado newspapers form 1979-present. The file is arranged alpha by topic, and includes some biographical information on Western Colorado residents including obituaries.

This page was submitted to the Mesa county COGenWeb site
by Judy Prosser-Armstrong -judypa@colosys.net