Events
Golden History Museum & Park events and programming explore a variety of historic subjects presented by expert instructors. Learn about your community or neighborhood. Apply historic skills in a modern way. Create something with your hands. There is sure to be a program to suit your interests!
Click the green ticket button in the upper left of each event to buy tickets online. 
Remember: Registration is required for most programs, even when free. Program will be canceled if minimum attendance number is not reached 24 hours prior to start time. Help us provide even more programming by signing up and attending!
Click “read more” in the lower right of each event for details. 
Origins of the Colorado Territory
Congress created the Colorado Territory in 1861 during a grave secession crisis that threatened the very survival of the Union. In fact, the regional and national stories are deeply intertwined, for the sectional conflict that led to the Civil War was in no small part a struggle to control the land, resources, and identity of the American West.
This lecture frames Colorado’s early history as a function of both the political crisis in the East and the gold rush in the West, both of which occurred as Americans reconsidered the geography of the interior. Presented by Dr. Susan Schulten, Professor at the University of Denver.
Susan Schulten has taught at the University of Denver since 1996, and from 2010 to 2017 served as chair of the history department. She is author of Mapping the Nation: History and Cartography in Nineteenth-Century America (2012) and The Geographical Imagination in America, 1880-1950 (2001). She is also editor of Constructing the American Past, a two-volume history of America with Oxford University Press.
Her latest book—A History of America in 100 Maps—is now available for purchase.
Location and Pricing
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
free for members; $10 non-members.
Registration is required.
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Be Informed–Know the Ballot from Top to Bottom
[PLEASE NOTE: This is a date change from the original posting and will differ from some printed materials.]
In partnership with OLLI West, this class will provide you with in-depth information regarding issues on the November ballot and we will be unraveling the complexities of the “Blue Book.” Printed information and other resources will be provided examining candidate information.
Presented by Margie Beal, a retired speech pathologist and active member of the League of Women Voters at the local, state and national levels. Additionally, Margie is an OLLI West member and facilitator whose prior courses have been “State of the State,” “Meet the Candidates,” and a series addressing mental health issues in Colorado.
Location and Pricing
Thursday, October 4, 2018; 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
$0 (free) for members (both GHM&P and OLLI West); $10 non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Room and Board: Premiere showing of PBS Colorado Experience Episode
Please join us for a free preview screening of the Colorado Experience Season 6 premiere episode “Room & Board.”
Discover the boarding house phenomenon that provided a home away from home for one third of Americans and challenged social and cultural conventions. This episode features historic images of the Astor House and an interview with Golden History Museum & Park Director Nathan Richie.
Premieres on the air 10/11/18. (This is an exclusive advanced screening.)
Location and Pricing
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
1968 – The Year of Turmoil
America is more divided today than it was at any time since the Civil War. Or is it? Martin C. Babicz, Ph.D., will look at the tumultuous year of 1968, a year in which assassinations, riots, and war nearly tore the country apart. Dr. Babicz will also explore how the United States became divided in the late 1960s and the impact that polarization had on the future.
Martin C. Babicz, Ph.D., teaches history at the University of Colorado Boulder for the Sewall Hall History & Culture Residential Academic Program, the Communications & Society Residential Academic Program, and the History Department. He received a B.A. in history from the University of Connecticut, and an M.A. in history from Brown University. After working as a lobbyist in Connecticut for fifteen years, he returned to graduate school and received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. His dissertation, which explores the intersection of colonial politics and imperial policy during the Stamp Act crisis, is entitled, For Empire, Colony, and Self-Interest: Thomas Fitch and Connecticut Colonial Politics. Dr. Babicz teaches several courses on American History. He is the co-author (with Thomas W. Zeiler) of National Pastime: U.S. History through Baseball (2017), and he is the author of a chapter exploring the historiography of sports and pastimes of the 1920s in A Companion to Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover (2014).
Location and Pricing
10:30 a.m. – noon
free for members; $10 non-members.
Registration is required. Program will be canceled if minimum attendance number is not reached 24 hours prior to start time.
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Golden Cemetery Tour 2018
Visit the graves of legendary Golden characters. Hear stories about their lives from storytellers and guides, Dennis Potter and Troy Rodriquez.
Tours begin and end at the Golden Cemetery. Two tours are available: 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m..
Registration is required. Program will be canceled if minimum attendance number is not reached 24 hours prior to start time.
Pricing
$0 members; $10 non-members
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
About Golden Cemetery
The City of Golden owns and operates the Golden Cemetery. Among the historic notables buried here is George West. West, a Golden founder, started the Colorado Transcript newspaper in 1866.
Additionally, Seth Lake, builder of Astor House in 1867, is buried in the Golden Cemetery. Many other pioneers and characters of the early west are at rest here.
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Golden History Museum opens its doors with free admission from 5 to 9 pm for Night at the Museums.
Explore the Museum with a scavenger hunt to find clues and solve the mystery at Golden History! Test your answers on our interactive switchboard and win a prize if you hear the joyous sounds of your victory.
See brand new exhibits, including Legendary People which includes biographies of important locals, as well as Epic Events, a timeline of the major events and discoveries that shaped Golden. The entire family will want to take a selfie in front of a huge photo backdrop depicting tourists with donkeys – once a common sight in Golden.
Free. All ages. There is no registration for this event.
World War I: Making the World Safe for Democracy
Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, Martin C. Babicz, Ph.D. will explore America’s role during the Great War and how the so-called “War to End All Wars” impacted life in the United States. Dr. Babicz will examine how the Wilson administration directed the war effort and managed American society to quickly and efficiently convert a nation of 100 million people into a well-organized war machine. He will also look at the turmoil that erupted in the United States following the end of the war.
Location and Pricing
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
free for members; $10 non-members.
Registration is required. Program will be canceled if minimum attendance number is not reached 24 hours prior to start time.
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Witness the exciting and long-anticipated opening of Golden’s 1968 time capsule, which is currently buried in front of Golden City Hall. Free museum admission!
Leading up to November 11, check with the Golden Public Library for your chance to add something to a 2018 time capsule.
Free for all; no registration.
Homesteaders’ Day
Celebrate Homesteaders’ Day! Experience 19th century homesteading, explore the historic cabins, try woodstove cooking, learn about blacksmithing, and take a lesson at the one-room schoolhouse. This event is drop-in style; there is no registration. Come any time between 10 am and 2 pm for any length of time.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Thomas and Henrietta Pearce, pictured below, raised eight children on their ranch. It was one of the largest in the area by 1912. Read more here.
Thomas and Henrietta Pearce
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Stroll through the History Museum on Candlelight Walk night and take a selfie in our “Epic Events” exhibit or listen to cheery holiday music. Visit the History Park and try a roasted chestnut. Explore the inside of the Pearce/Helps Cabin, warm up at the wood stove, watch live blacksmithing, and enjoy music and singing.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Thomas and Henrietta Pearce raised eight children on their ranch. It was one of the largest in the area by 1912. Read more here.
These programs are free and there is no registration. Donations for park and museum programming are appreciated!
Here are some other Olde Golden Christmas & Holiday festivities offered by the Golden Chamber. 
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was one of the most divisive conflicts in U.S. history. On the 50-year anniversary of the 1968 protests, this lecture explores the origins of the anti-war movement, its impact on foreign policy and its place in American memory. Presented by University of Colorado – Denver Professor Dr. Greg Whitesides.
Dr. Greg Whitesides’ primary interests are the history of science, U.S. foreign policy and 20th century global history. His PhD studies emphasized the history of science, which involved archival research at the Human Genome Project, the National Institutes of Health and the National Archives (among others), and the eventual publication on the regulation of genetics and biomedicine. After graduation, Dr. Whitesides worked for the University of Maryland and the Department of Defense in Japan and S. Korea before being hired by the University of Colorado in 2004. Since then, he has taught over 20 different classes in the CU system.
Location and Pricing
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
$0 members; $10 non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
The Story of Reuben Benton Hayward’s Murder—Part 1
Sarah Hayward and her daughters, 13-year-old Cora and 11-year-old Minnie, watched as Reuben Benton Hayward slapped reins to the bays that pulled his wagon down the lane toward Mount Vernon Canyon. With him in the wagon were two strangers, purportedly dish washers from the Overland Hotel in Golden, who had asked him for a ride to the Rooney Ranch. The date was September 10, 1879, and it was the last time Sarah and the girls would see Reuben alive.
Dennis Potter, retired Captain of the Jefferson County Colorado Sheriff’s Department, criminal justice professor, and previous presenter of the popular “Operation Hideout: The Investigation into the Kidnapping and Murder of Adolph Coors III” returns for this exciting program.
Location and Pricing
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
$0 members; $10 non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Rowdy Colorado
Shell games, dollars hidden in soap bars, shoot-outs in saloons and in the streets, fawning ladies of the night, swarms of migrating rattlesnakes, and cattle rustling dandies all play their part in Colorado history.
Join us for a boisterous look at the early days of Colorado spanning from 1859-1930. Laughter encouraged.
Copies of Randi Samuelson-Brown‘s book, The Beaten Territory, will be available for purchase and signing.
Location and Pricing
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
$0 members; $10 non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
The Story of Reuben Benton Hayward’s Murder—Part 2
Reuben Benton Hayward was dead. Two men, accused of his death, awaited their fate at the Jefferson County Jail. A few minutes before midnight, a party of horsemen numbering close to 35 approached the jail from the south. These horsemen were closely followed by an equal number of people riding in wagons or on foot. 
One rider climbed a telegraph pole and cut the wires. Any communications to and from Golden was now muted. All of them were either masked or had their faces blackened. They had tools with them and together worked to open the heavy metal front door to the County Jail.
They were determined to hang the two men lodged inside who two weeks earlier had murdered their neighbor and friend, Reuben Benton Hayward.
Dennis Potter, retired Captain of the Jefferson County Colorado Sheriff’s Department, criminal justice professor, and previous presenter of the popular “Operation Hideout: The Investigation into the Kidnapping and Murder of Adolph Coors III” returns for this exciting program.
Location and Pricing
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
$0 members; $10 non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.