Pikes Peak Regional History Symposium 2026
The 2026 Pikes Peak Regional History Symposium celebrates the 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood with a two-part event featuring a day of films and a day of lectures from students, filmmakers, and leading scholars, each revealing how the Pikes Peak Region has shaped the course of Colorado history.
A powerful reexamination of William Jackson Palmer looks beyond the familiar story to uncover his broader impact on Colorado and beyond. A fresh look at the Cripple Creek miners’ strike captures a turning point that reshaped labor in the state. The political battles behind Amendments 1 and 2 in 1992 reveal how Colorado Springs helped drive changes that still define Colorado politics today.
New perspectives on Zebulon Pike challenge what we think we know about his expedition. The fight for water in Colorado Springs takes center stage as a defining struggle that helped set lasting precedents across the state. At Evergreen Cemetery, overlooked figures emerge whose lives left a lasting mark on Colorado’s early history. And in the story of Margaret Reid and the Pikes Peak Library District, a local vision becomes a model that reshaped library service across Colorado.
The program also features student films, including award-winning documentaries from the 2026 History Day competition, alongside original work from filmmakers exploring the region’s past in new ways.
This two-part event takes on some of the biggest questions in Colorado history and shows how those answers were shaped right here in the Pikes Peak Region.
Register for the History Symposium today!
Presenting sponsor