Columbine High School Shootings Memorial and Memento Recovery Photographs, 1999

Series — Box: 1

Identifier: Series-131

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Photographs documenting the effort to preserve the flowers, stuffed animals and other materials sent or taken to the memorial site in Clement Park, Littleton, Colorado, dedicated to the victims of the Columbine High School Shootings that took place on April 20, 1999. The color photo prints of the Clement Park Memorial were taken April 29, 1999 by a member of the Jefferson County Historical Commission. The black and white prints and negatives of the Clement Park memorial Site, recovery effort, and recovery area at the Denver Federal Center were taken by the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado) in April and May, 1999.

Dates

1999

Creator

Colorado Historical Society (Organization)
Ebner, Don (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Archives collection material is non-circulating, requires staff retrieval and is available for use by appointment in the reading room.

Biographical / Historical

On April 20, 1999, two Columbine High School seniors, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher and injured 24 others. Harris and Klebold then committed suicide. Memorials sprang up shortly after the massacre, including some on victims' cars in the school parking lot and a large one at Clement Park, across from the school in Littleton, Colorado.

Hundreds of people came to the park to leave flowers, cards, crosses, candles, stuffed animals and other mementos. A group of historians, curators, archivists and others quickly came together to develop a plan for collecting and storing the items. In May 1999, this group spent three days carefully collecting and cataloging what mourners had left.

More than 5,000 artifacts in all were collected. The flowers were not saved, and most of the stuffed animals did not survive being outside in the elements, but the crosses, photos, notes and cards remain. These artifacts were carefully conserved and stored at History Colorado.

Extent

0.25 Cubic Feet (One slim document box) : Black and white photographs (206 4"x6" prints, 124 35mm negatives and two 2 1/2"x2 7/8" negatives). Two packages of 4" x 6" color photographic prints.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Black and white photos and negatives donated to the Archives in 1999 by the Colorado State Historical Society. Color photographic prints taken by Don Ebner, member of the Jefferson County Historical Commission, and given to the Archives in 1999.

Subjects

Columbine High School Massacre, Littleton, Colo., 1999 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Negatives (photographs) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus