In donating to the Dearfield Preservation Fund at the Black American West Museum, you are joining many others in ensuring that the story of Colorado's and America's African American struggles for equal justice and opportunity are preserved for present day and future generations. The town and farm colony of Dearfield was founded in southeast Weld County, northeastern Colorado, in 1910 by businessman O.T. Jackson. It was one of many such settlements founded in the west and mid-west from the late 1800s through the early 20th century. Dearfield grew and thrived for two decades before being ended by the twin climate and economic disasters of the Dust Bowl and Depression.

Over the past three decades, the Black American West Museum has been acquiring Dearfield townsite land in order to protect it from vandalism and destruction by modern development. The townsite was placed on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and renewed efforts to protect town buildings and scientifically study its past, in the form of the Dearfield Dream Project, were begun in 2008 by a partnership of Colorado universities, historic preservation non-profits, and community groups. A sustained plan of historic building anti-vandalism measures, rehabilitation, and, starting this year, aided by a new $498,000 National Park Service grant, restoration of still standing and partially collapsed buildings will begin. Your donated dollars will go toward townsite protection and maintenance, public and school tours of the site, an on-site seasonal museum and education center, and grant match funding for a variety of Dearfield preservation projects, including University of Northern Colorado archaeological excavations that involve pre-collegiate and college student and community volunteer participation. You can learn more about Dearfield by linking to a History Colorado podcast, "The Dearest Field" (56:38), first broadcast in 2019. The link provided below takes you to History Colorado's Lost Highways podcast series where you scroll down the list of podcasts  to the Dearfield program. We deeply appreciate your joining us in celebrating and preserving the Dearfield legacy.  For more information, visit Lost Highways: Dispatches from the Shadows of the Rocky Mountains | History Colorado

Donations can be made by online by clicking HERE or checks can be mailed directly to the Black American West Museum, 3091 California St., Denver, CO 80205.  (Please note in the memo line: "Dearfield Preservation")