Douglas Basil Carpenter has donated a wide variety of items pertaining to modes of activism, memorialization, worship, and recreation during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. The collection also includes objects pertaining to recreational activities and events among Denver’s gay male community during the pre-AIDS era of the 1970s.
Fourth annual Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo Denver, CO, May 30 - June 1 1986. Wild cow milking
Thanks to the generosity of the Gill Foundation, in October 2019 History Colorado hired the Gill Foundation Associate Curator of LGBTQ+ History to manage and expand History Colorado’s LGBTQ+ holdings and to develop the Gill Foundation LGBTQ Archive in recognition of the significant contributions of Tim Gill to the state of Colorado. All LGBTQ+ acquisitions from 2019 through 2024 reflect the support of the Gill Foundation.
Dedicated to documenting the varied experiences of all Coloradans, History Colorado, and the Gill Foundation initiated the LGBTQ Collecting Initiative to proactively build a research archive that preserves and promotes the contributions, history, and voices of Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community.