History Live Durango

History Live! celebrates the humanities in Southwest Colorado with lectures, workshops, and live portrayals of historical figures. The Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable is proud to offer a full month of programming each September.

The Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable has coordinated a month of history, anthropological, and archaeological events in La Plata County this September that will include two Chautauqua presentations by national scholar Susan Marie Frontczak. Meet Marie Curie Thursday, September 22, 7 – 8:30 p.m. and Erma Bombeck Friday, September 23, 7 – 8:30 p.m. in person on the Ft. Lewis campus.

For a full listing of History Live! events and more information about the Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable, please visit www.swcohumanities.org/.

Marie Curie – photo Storysmith®

Marie Curie Chautauqua Portrayal by Susan Marie Frontczak

Thursday, September 22,  7:00 – 8:30 p.m.  

Presented by Fort Lewis College Lifelong Learning , Colorado Humanities, and Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable
Location: 130 Noble Hall, Fort Lewis College
Contact: Gary Rottman, gsorcer@hotmail.com

Marie Curie – scientist, mother, and teacher – changed our world through her discovery of radium and radioactivity. From the political oppression of her childhood, to scientific emergence and fame, this is a life that speaks to the tenacity of the human spirit and the enduring allure of scientific discovery. Time travel back to 1915 to hear the story of this introverted, focused scientist who discovered a new element whose compounds really do glow in the dark. Few understand the obstacles she faced just to get into the laboratory or the path that led to two Nobel Prizes. Program includes an in-character presentation, a Q&A with  “Marie Curie” and a Q&A with the presenter.

Erma Bombeck – photo credit Janet Adams

Erma Bombeck Chautauqua Portrayal by Susan Marie Frontczak

Friday, September 23,  7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Presented by Colorado Humanities and the Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable
Location: 130 Noble Hall, Fort Lewis College
Contact: Shelley Walchak, swalchak@gmail.com, 303.941.4012,

Erma Bombeck captured with paring-knife-sharp humor the daily life of a new American phenomenon: the suburban housewife. Having figured out from her own personal experience that if you can laugh at it you can live with it, she chronicled the housewife’s daily struggles in her column “At Wit’s End” three days a week. She eventually appeared in 900 newspapers across the country and in books such as I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression and The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank. Bombeck brought to American awareness the life of women whose lives otherwise felt invisible and taken for granted. This program consists of a monologue in-character, followed first by a Q&A with “Erma Bombeck” and then by a Q&A with the scholar/presenter.

More information can be found on the Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable website.

Featured Events September 2022