Holland & Hart is proud to announce that History Colorado (also known as the Colorado State Historical Society) rededicated the Stephen H. Hart Research Center, the research library and archives located in the History Colorado Center in Denver, Colo. on Dec. 4. A new plaque in the Research Center was unveiled to honor Stephen H. Hart (1908-1993), who co-founded Holland & Hart in 1947, and whose great passion outside of the law was preserving Colorado history and historic sites.
The library and archives were named for Stephen H. Hart in 1980, to recognize his service to History Colorado and the State of Colorado. In addition to serving on History Colorado’s board for more than 50 years (including a decade as president), Hart served as Colorado’s first State Historic Preservation Officer from 1967-78, launching one of the nation’s most ambitious preservation programs at the request of then-Governor John Love. All of Hart’s service to History Colorado and the State were performed pro bono publico.
When the history museum moved to the new History Colorado Center at 1200 Broadway a few years ago, naming rights for every space in the new History Center were a major source of funding and no named spaces from the old museum were carried over—with the research center being one important exception. The Stephen H. Hart Research Center continues to carry the name of perhaps the most dominant figure at the historical society in the 20th century. As stated on the newly unveiled plaque in the Research Center:
“With a lifelong love of Colorado and its heritage, he enriched every aspect of History Colorado—and most of all the library, which he considered the heart of the organization and the foundation of all other aspects of its work.”
(photo credit: History Colorado)