Colorado History May Be Lost Forever Because of Something Stupid

When it comes to Colorado history, we don't often think of old records; not the vinyl ones, the ones that keep track of persons and places, that were written in cursive.

Fewer People Understanding Cursive Writing Jeopardize Colorado's History

It already is a foreign language to some young people: cursive writing. The angles, the swoops of connected letters. These people have no idea what very old record entries are trying to tell them/us about Colorado's past.

I have a friend who does research on old homes in the Denver area, and often times needs to find out who owned a home or property way back in the day. Those records are kept at county assessors' offices across the state.

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On a trip to Leadville to track down some Colorado history at the Lake County Assessor's Office, my friend was told that they're having a hard time finding people to join their team. It's not about the pay or the hours, it's because those who apply cannot read the records, because they are written in cursive.

READ MORE: Colorado's Historic Hammar House

As of April of 2025, there are 24 states that mandate that cursive writing be taught in public schools; Colorado not being one of those states. With that, comes the possible situation where something needs to be looked up, but no one's available to read what is written down.

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Sure, maybe the Lake County Assessor's Office can find someone, eventually, that does know how to read cursive, but think about this: That may becoming a sough-after skill that other counties are willing to pay more than Lake County can afford, and the position still goes unfilled.

Furthermore, with Colorado not mandating the teaching of cursive writing, a non-Colorado native could be in charge of this part of Colorado's history. How would that feel?