Pikes Peak Regional History Symposium
Nice, Naughty, & Notable: Colorado Springs at 150: Part 3
Sat., July 24 from 10 – 11:30 a.m.
Printable Program
Introduction
10 – 10:10 a.m.
Each presentation is scheduled for 20 minutes.
A five-minute break is scheduled between presentations.
Leah Davis Witherow: A Story That Must be Told: Trailblazing Entrepreneur “Mama” Susie Perkins
10:10 – 10:30 a.m.
“Mama” Susie Perkins was a trailblazing real estate entrepreneur who fought racial discrimination by buying & renovating real estate. She eventually owned over 100 units, renting them to single mothers, mixed-race couples and Black Fort Carson soldiers and their families. In other words, all the people other landlords turned away. She also had “unmistakable style.” Perkins loved gowns, tiaras and driving her Lincoln Continental around town. Extremely generous, she donated money to local schools, churches, charities – even her own tenants.
Eric Metzger: The McAllister House and its Place in 150 years of Colorado Springs History
10:35 – 10:55 a.m.
For 148 years the McAllister House has persisted in our community. In many ways, the McAllister House is symbolic of how people moved West to establish themselves and start anew while at the same time wanting to bring pieces of their past with them to provide for cultural continuity. The McAllister’s were aware that the North Cascade house would be a symbol of who they were as people, where they had come from and what their intentions were in leaving their family and friends in Philadelphia and immigrating to Colorado Springs.
Greg Atkins: City Business: Colorado Springs and the Libertarian Party
11 - 11:20 a.m.
On December 11, 1971, a small group of irate conservatives met in the Colorado Springs living room of Luke Zell, the head of a local tax revolt called the El Paso County Taxpayers’ Association. That day, Zell and his friends started the Libertarian Party of the United States. Today, the nation’s third largest political party acknowledges Zell’s contribution but says nothing of his taxpayer’s association. Tax revolts were common in the 1970s, but this group had been waging one for over 50 years. That story reveals the incredible importance of Colorado Springs not only to libertarianism but to the entire nation.
Questions and Answers
11:20 – 11:30 a.m.
Speaker Biographies
Leah Davis Witherow is the Curator of History for the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum. She graduated with a B.A. in History and a Certificate in Eastern European and Russian Studies from California State University, Long Beach and an M.A. in History from University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Additionally, she has taught American History at UCCS since 2000, specializing in the history of Colorado, the Progressive Era, Labor and Women. In 2014 she was selected as the UCCS College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Outstanding Lecturer of the Year, and in 2018 was selected as a “Woman of Influence” by the Colorado Springs Business Journal.
Eric Metzger grew up in Littleton CO and has spent much of his life along the Front Range preserving and interpreting cultural resources in both non-profit and for-profit organizations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a master’s degree in museum administration from Harvard University. Before joining the McAllister House Museum as Executive Director, Eric was the Director of Education and Museum Services at the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
Gregory James Atkins is originally from Oklahoma, Greg earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Oklahoma Panhandle State University, a master’s degree in history from Oklahoma State University, and a PhD in history from Washington State University in 2019. From 2008 to 2012, he lived in Colorado Springs and worked as a high school history teacher and adjunct history instructor. He is currently assistant director of FHSU Online at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. Greg is working on a book about how Colorado Springs carved out a national reputation over the last 150 years.