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Silvia Pettem at Carnegie Library, Boulder BIOGRAPHY

Author, writer, historical researcher, and cold case historian

Personal:
Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1947.

Moved to Boulder, Colorado, in September, 1965, to attend the University of Colorado.

Except for less than one year, lived in Boulder County from 1965 to the present.

Married with two grown daughters; four grandchildren.
Education:
B.A. from University of Colorado, Boulder, 1969.

Current board positions:
NamUs victim advocate for Colorado
Historic Preservation Advisory Board to the Boulder County Commissioners (Vice-chair and mining representative).
University of Colorado Heritage Center Museum, advisory board member.

Associations:
Boulder County Business Hall of Fame, past board member.
Boulder Genealogical Society, past board member.
Boulder Heritage Roundtable.
Boulder Museum of History, past board member.
Boulder Sesquicentennial Executive Committee, past board member.
Colorado Authors’ League.
Colorado Historical Society.
Historic Boulder, Inc., past board member.
Mining History Association (national), past board member; past chair of the editorial committee.
University of Colorado Alumni Association, past board member.

Awards:

Finalist in the 2010 Colorado Book Awards for Someone's Daughter: In Search of Justice for Jane Doe, May 2010.

Recognition by the Boulder Heritage Roundtable Association for Someone's Daughter: In Search of Justice for Jane Doe, May 10, 2010.

Recipient of the City of Boulder Historic Preservation Award for "outstanding example of historic preservation" in working with the Boulder Transportation Department on the "Broadway In Motion" project, May 10, 2010.

Recipient of Historic Boulder's "Preservation in Action, Volunteers of the Year award, 2009," for being a member of the Boulder Sesquicentennial Celebration Committee.

Recipient of the Sheriff's Commendation Award, for being the "driving force" behind the resurrection of the 1954 Jane Doe homicide investigation, November 2008.

Recipient of the Square Nail Award, presented by the Boulder Heritage Roundtable “to people dedicated to the cause of preserving Boulder County’s cultural heritage and history,” in May 2003.

Finalist in the Colorado Center for the Book awards for Separate Lives: The Story of Mary Rippon, October 2000.

First place winner for nonfiction in the Colorado Independent Publishers’ Association awards for Separate Lives: The Story of Mary Rippon, 2000.

First place winner for life stories in the Writers’ Digest national self-published book awards for Separate Lives: The Story of Mary Rippon, 1999.

Writer of 12 interpretive panels on Boulder's Pearl Street Pedestrian Mall.
Author of 21 books and booklets on Colorado history.
Private researcher for governments, businesses, and individuals.

History columnist for the Daily Camera, 1998-2010.
History columnist for the Boulder Planet, 1996-1998.