The Animas Museum’s collection of artifacts and photographs is in the best shape it’s ever been, thanks in large part to curator of collections Jan Postler. Postler, who is retiring, will work her last day Thursday.
“Jan has magnificently organized and cared for the museum’s collections,” said Carolyn Bowra, director of the museum, “preserving them for future generations. Thanks to her efforts, they have state-of-the-art storage space to call home.”
Postler started with the museum in 1996 and was the project director for the Home for History project, which created an archival-quality storage area on the top of the museum. That allowed the museum to safely store the 35,000 items in its collection that had been precariously tucked away in the basement, home to the boiler, of the 110-year-old building. The project also documented more than half the collection, about 18,000 items, in an electronic database, making them more accessible for researchers.
Postler also made a lot of friends as descendants of early residents entrusted their family treasures to her for safekeeping and to make them accessible to visitors and researchers.
In Postler’s honor, the La Plata County Historical Society, which runs the museum, has established the Jan Postler Collections Care Fund.
“Jan is beloved by the community,” said Kathie McKenzie, president of the society, “and we can think of no better way to care for the collection following the high standards she set.”
Postler is delighted by the fund, which will support work she loves, she said.
“Right now, we just want to make a big deal about Jan,” Bowra said. “But we have hired her successor – not replacement because there’s no replacing Jan. It’s going to be a job-share.”
Fort Lewis College Professor Emerita Mona Charles will supervise the completion of the grant-funded organizational and documentation project, while Sarah Thompson, who will join the museum this summer, will manage the collections.
Postler has spent the last 18 months battling cancer, and while she has an excellent prognosis, her first priority during her retirement is to give her body time to heal from surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Her husband, the Rev. Bill Postler, has retired from full-time pastoring, but has continued to work and preach part-time. He will retire in the next couple of months, and the couple plans to do some traveling.
“People keep asking me what I’m going to be doing with all this spare time,” she said, “and I want to ask, ‘What spare time?’ I’ve always been all about my work. I actually had time for reading again during the cancer treatment, and that’s something I’ll continue.”
She also plans to learn to knit and may take spinning lessons from the Wild Woolly Spinners of the West, who meet at the museum monthly.
“And I’ll definitely do some volunteering, maybe at the Durango Public Library,” she said, “and after my replacement has a chance to get settled in, maybe at the Animas Museum. But I’m still looking for my new purpose.”
abutler@durangoherald.com
To donate
To donate to the Jan Postler Collections Care Fund, mail your donation to the La Plata County Historical Society (LPCHS), P.O. Box 3384, Durango, CO 81302.
