Education Trunks

trunks-kids1Aspen Historical Society’s trunks are filled with reproduction artifacts to touch, hold and use. Each trunk includes a teacher’s guide to help direct activities and bring depth to the materials within the trunk.

Fee: Free to schools and non profits with a $50 refundable security deposit

Each trunk can be used as a “show and tell,” as a self-contained unit, or as a jumping off point for more extensive avenues of study. Although the kit is devised to be self-contained and is meant for children from 9 – 13 years of age in a classroom setting, it can also be used for adult groups with an accompanying speaker and for younger children with extra supervision. (Ages 8+)

trunks2Mining Trunk

This trunk focuses on mining in Colorado and, more specifically, silver mining in the Aspen area. A variety of related topics are introduced so that the student is exposed to mining from different perspectives, and a variety of projects are included that promote learning in subject areas such as math and science.

trunks3Prehistoric Peoples Discovery Kit (Anasazi)

The Aspen Historical Society’s first traveling educational history trunk. The kit explores the prehistoric peoples of Colorado with a major emphasis on the Anasazi people from the southwestern part of the state. Users of the kit are able to touch the reproduced artifacts in the kit for a “hands-on” learning experience. The kit also offers a glimpse at the ways of prehistoric people, including their means of survival, their home life and social structure, their religious practices and beliefs, and their interaction with other peoples.

trunks4Ranching Trunk

Focuses on ranching in the Roaring Fork Valley and Colorado and the “Quiet Years” period of Aspen’s history. Ranching is an important part of our history as Americans, Coloradoans and inhabitants of the Roaring Fork Valley. Our identity and character have been shaped by the greater westward movement and the men and women who ranched in this particular valley. Our belief is that it is important to explore this aspect of our background in order to better understand ourselves and our place in the world.

Along with mining and skiing, ranching and farming shaped our valley, its character and its people. During the “Quiet Years” between 1900 and 1945, farming and ranching were the economic backbone of the Roaring Fork Valley. Without these industries, Aspen might well have become another Colorado ghost town.

The Ranching Trunk was designed to help teachers reach as many of the Colorado Model Content Standards in history, geography, and reading and writing as possible. The recent emphasis placed on literacy has also been taken into account, and reading and writing activities have been incorporated wherever possible and appropriate. The Ranching Trunk covers many areas including general history, people of the ranching community, ranching work, community and life.