History of Colorado Center – Elizabeth Bello Aldaco, Week 2

July 18, 2025

History of Colorado Center

Hi Everyone! Bienvenidos a mi resumen de la semana #2 en el History of Colorado Center.

This week was a little bit different from week #1, but I still found it interesting and intriguing!

I worked remotely on Tuesday, so I finished a part of the project (Colorado's symbols and important people) I was working on the previous week. On Wednesday morning I had a meeting with my supervisor; we just did a quick check-in of how my first week had gone!

After that, I watched a Smithsonian National Education Summit virtual livestream, and I recognized the amazing Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch! If you remember, we met him briefly during our week in Washington, D.C. He talked about the 250th anniversary and the importance of the Declaration of Independence, our history and those who have upheld our nation's ideals, and advancing our future and protecting our democracy. 

Later that afternoon, I met with my co-worker who I would be working on a different project with; her name is Josie! She was so sweet! I got to help her research images and ideas for a hands-on project the history camp kids would be working on the next day. The project was researching any pictures that had to do with animal rawhide and wool since the kids would be learning what rawhide is, what it is used for, and how to soften it up. I learned that the Ute people would use deer brain as an oil to soften up animal rawhide; they would not waste any part of an animal that they killed!!

I was fortunate enough to get a tour of the Center for Colorado Women's History, which is right down the street! The tour guide, Cat, was incredible! They introduced diverse perspectives of the women in Colorado during different time periods, which is not really talked about since history tends to focus on other groups, lacking representation of minorities and marginalized groups.

This is another picture I took at the Center for Colorado Women's History. The center does not look like a typical museum; it is a mansion that people lived in for over 100 years, and their story is told through the decades of struggles and achievements women in Colorado experienced. 

On Thursdays, I support the history camp staff with the children! This week our learning focused on the journey and what life was like on the Santa Fe Trail through hands-on activities, crafts, and storytelling. One of the hands-on activities was learning how to soften up animal rawhide with water, baking soda, oil, and one egg. This is what my research was about! It was our first time trying this activity, so we weren't sure if it would work out, but the kids did amazing! They got to experiment and use critical thinking skills to soften up the "rawhide."

Finally, on Friday I had to take the day off for some family emergency reasons, but I will make it up by working remotely on Saturday! My work on Saturday is to organize and stuff membership renewal envelopes, there are 10,000 of them; so that will keep me busy for a couple of hours. 

Overall, week #2 was chaotic yet engaging :) See y'all next week!

-  Elizabeth Bello