Some of Denver’s most interesting international stories may be waiting on a library shelf.
It’s a cold, rainy morning in Denver. The leaves are turning, the skies are gray, and fall has definitely arrived. It’s the kind of day that calls for a warm cup of coffee or tea, a good book, and perhaps a little discovery.
Here’s an idea: Why not spend an afternoon at the Denver Public Library exploring the history of Denver Sister Cities International?
For decades, Denver residents have welcomed international visitors, traveled across oceans, exchanged ideas, celebrated traditions, and built friendships connecting our city with communities around the world. But how much do we really know about the people and events that started it all?
Eight boxes and more than 50 years of friendship
Here’s the really exciting part: this isn’t just wishful thinking. The Denver Public Library holds a dedicated collection of Denver Sister Cities International records dating from 1960 to 2014.
The collection fills eight archival boxes and includes scrapbooks, annual reports, photographs, invitations, programs, correspondence, meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, and other records documenting decades of DSCI’s history. The collection includes materials donated by Denver Sister Cities International and Rosemary Evetts.
Think about that: more than half a century of international friendship, tucked into eight boxes and waiting to be explored. So, what might we find?
The earliest years
What did Denver’s first international friendship activities actually look like? Who organized them, who attended, and what persuaded Denver residents and city leaders that building relationships with communities halfway around the world was worth doing?
An old program, letter, newspaper clipping, meeting record, or photograph might help us reconstruct those beginnings. We might even rediscover people who played an important role in creating these relationships but whose contributions have largely disappeared from the story we tell today.
A little mayoral diplomacy
There may also be traces of diplomacy conducted not in Washington, D.C., but right here in Denver. Correspondence, official visits, proclamations, signing ceremonies, programs, gifts, and photographs could help us understand how relationships between Denver and its international partner cities developed.
Who welcomed those early delegations? What did visiting dignitaries see when they came to Denver? What gifts were exchanged between cities? Who stood beside the mayors when new relationships were celebrated? Sometimes a single letter or photograph can tell an extraordinary story.
The unexpected events
This may be where things get especially fun. Decades of sister city activity have included festivals, dinners, performances, student exchanges, visiting delegations, cultural programs, and all kinds of encounters between people who otherwise might never have met.
What was served at those dinners? Where did visitors stay? What performances filled Denver theaters and community halls? What happened when Denver students traveled overseas for the first time, or when international students arrived here?
Somewhere in those eight boxes may be a story that makes all of us say, “Wait. DSCI did that?”
The people behind the friendships
Sister city relationships aren’t built by proclamations alone. They’re built by people: volunteers who opened their homes, families who hosted visitors, teachers who organized exchanges, and committee leaders who planned events year after year. Community members translated, cooked, drove visitors around Denver, raised money, arranged introductions, and maintained friendships across thousands of miles.
Some of those people served DSCI for decades. Their names may appear in meeting minutes, correspondence, programs, photographs, and newspaper clippings, but the real stories behind those names may still live with the people who remember them. That’s one reason exploring this history matters.
And then there are the photographs…
Imagine finding a photograph of an early delegation arriving in Denver, a mayor greeting visitors from a sister city, students preparing for an exchange, volunteers at a festival, or a family welcoming an international visitor into their home.
We may also find photographs of people many of our members recognize, only taken 30, 40, or 50 years ago. With the appropriate permissions, those images could become the foundation for future Who Knew? stories, anniversary features, or a DSCI historical series. We may even need the help of longtime members to identify the people and occasions captured in them.
Want to do a little exploring yourself?
You can. The DSCI collection is available for public research through Special Collections and Archives at the Denver Public Library’s Central Library, located at 10 W. 14th Avenue Parkway in downtown Denver.
When you arrive, ask library staff for the Denver Sister Cities International, Inc. records, 1960–2014 and give them the collection’s call number: C MSS WH1162. Tell the archivist that you’re interested in researching the Denver Sister Cities International collection. Staff can help retrieve the archival boxes and explain how to work with the original materials.
Because these are archival records, they aren’t checked out like ordinary library books. You’ll review them in the library’s designated research area and may be asked to register as a researcher and provide identification.
If you’re particularly interested in one sister city, decade, person, event, or type of material, it’s worth contacting Special Collections before your visit. An archivist may be able to help determine which materials are most likely to be useful.
Before you go: Denver Public Library Central Library is at 10 W. 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, Colorado 80204. Ask for Special Collections and Archives and reference C MSS WH1162. You can reach the department at 720-865-1821 or history@denverlibrary.org. Current posted hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Because hours can change, it’s a good idea to check with the library before making a special trip.
If you discover a photograph or document you’d like to reproduce, ask the archivist about obtaining a reproduction and any permissions or attribution requirements before publishing it.
The archive has the records. Our members have the stories.
An archive can preserve a photograph, but it can’t necessarily tell us who is standing in it. It can preserve an invitation to a dinner, but it can’t tell us about the conversation at the table. It can preserve the program from a student exchange, but it can’t tell us what that trip meant to the teenager who boarded an airplane for the first time.
That’s where our members come in. As DSCI works to organize and preserve its own historical records, we’d love to hear from longtime members, former committee leaders, host families, exchange participants, volunteers, and anyone else who has been part of Denver’s sister city story.
Do you have old photographs, programs, letters, newspaper clippings, souvenirs from a delegation, or simply a wonderful memory of something DSCI did? We’d love to hear about it. And if you decide to spend a rainy fall afternoon exploring those eight boxes at the library, let us know what you discover. You might just uncover our next Who Knew?
Sometimes the best way to understand where we’re going is to rediscover the friendships that brought us here.
Who knew?Help Us Rediscover DSCI’s History
As DSCI works to organize and preserve its historical records, we’d love to hear from longtime members, former committee leaders, host families, exchange participants, volunteers, and anyone else who has been part of Denver’s sister city story. Do you have old photographs, programs, letters, newspaper clippings, souvenirs from a delegation, or simply a wonderful memory of something DSCI did? We’d love to hear about it.
If you have something to share, send us an email with the subject line “Archival information.” Tell us a little about what you have, which sister city it relates to, and approximately when it took place. Photographs and scanned documents are welcome, but even a short recollection can help us piece together our history.
And if you decide to spend a rainy fall afternoon exploring those eight boxes at the library, let us know what you discover. You might just uncover our next Who Knew?
Sometimes the best way to understand where we’re going is to rediscover the friendships that brought us here.
Help Us Preserve and Share These Stories
Preserving DSCI’s history, creating new cultural and educational programs, and continuing to build friendships between Denver and our sister cities all depend on the support of our community. If stories like these remind you why international friendship matters, please consider supporting Denver Sister Cities International.
Your contribution helps us continue the exchanges, programs, events, and relationships that will become the stories future generations discover in the archives.
And if you decide to spend a rainy fall afternoon exploring those eight boxes at the library, let us know what you discover. You might just uncover our next Who Knew?