Dudley Mitchell was an early Mesa County resident and an interviewee of the Mesa County Oral History Project. In multiple interviews with Dudley, he discusses his fifty-year employment working an assortment of jobs for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG). If you ever needed any information on how the railroad worked in the early […]
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Black History Month: Madame C.J. Walker
On Her Own Ground: the life and times of Madame C.J. Walker, by A’Lelia Bundles (the great-great-granddaughter of Walker), is the inspiring story of Sarah Breedlove, born in Louisiana in 1867, and who became the first female millionaire in the United States by starting a beauty business featuring hair products for black women. Orphaned at age […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: The Ancient Order of Fools and Other Organizations
Since the settlement of Mesa County, its citizens have formed community groups to bond socially, for charitable causes, or for the ritual of belonging. Some founded local chapters of established organizations. In 1883 and 1884, recent arrivals formed Masonic Lodge Charter Number 55, Grand Army of the Republic Post 35, a local chapter of the […]
Continue readingBlack History Month: a hero a week
The awe-inspiring courage of Robert Smalls isn’t as well known as it should be. Born into slavery in 1839 to a slave named Lydia Polite in Beaufort, South Carolina, he was most likely the son of his owner, Henry Mckee. As a teen, he worked as a laborer in Charleston, first in a hotel, then […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: Mesa County Central Library’s 2012 Remodel
Imagine what you were like a decade ago – Where you lived, the people you surrounded yourself with, the activities you chose to partake in, your (maybe regrettable) hairstyle. Similar to how you have undergone a mighty transition or two, Mesa County Libraries has had quite the decade of change and growth. One of the […]
Continue readingLibrary issues statement about the possibility of a social worker
Mesa County Libraries would like to set the record straight regarding our exploration of having a social worker in the library. This topic has received considerable media attention in recent weeks, some of which was inaccurate or incomplete. Foremost, Mesa County Libraries do not plan to hire a social worker. We have neither the budget […]
Continue readingLearn more about Winston Churchill
So, I was watching Darkest Hour, a sepia-toned and fanciful version of Churchill’s World War II years, chock-full of duty, pluck and chins up. I wanted to know more about him besides the cigar smoking and champagne swilling. I needed facts, and hey, I don’t get my facts from movies, I get’em from books. There is […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: Drinking Water From The Gunnison And A Local Typhoid Mary
Before Grand Junction took its water from the Grand Mesa’s watershed, citizens took water directly from the Gunnison River, and with it Diphtheria, Typhoid Fever, and other interesting diseases that were not remedied until the twin advances of proper water management and vaccinations came into being. A May 1883 issue of the Grand Junction News […]
Continue readingTeen Reviews: Pretend She’s Here & Assassination Classroom
Teen Reviews presents book reviews and recommendations from teens in Mesa County. Don’t be surprised if you can’t find some of the books mentioned in these posts at the library or in stores: teens who attend Teen Book Club on Wednesdays at 4:00 at the Central Library have access to books before they are officially […]
Continue readingGreat wintry thrillers for snow days
Since this one-horse town cannot give me the snow days I so richly deserve, I guess I’ll only be able to experience the stinging cold and ferocious blizzards I crave through books. That’s why I’ve selected the freeziest thrillers out there, and unless I move to Duluth, it’s the closest I’ll come to winter misery and the joy […]
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