Poll finds low public awareness of Colorado’s upcoming 150th anniversary

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Closeup of a United States quarter coin showing "Colorado 1876"

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(Colorado Newsline)

More than two-thirds of Coloradans say they’ve heard “nothing” or “not much” about the Centennial State’s upcoming 150th statehood anniversary, a poll found.

Just 6% of respondents said they’ve heard “a lot” about the commemoration, which coincides with the nation’s recent 250th birthday celebration, while the remaining 24% said they’ve heard “some,” the Colorado Polling Institute found. Awareness was highest among Coloradans aged 35 to 44, especially parents.

“Schoolchildren may be the ones that are driving some of this awareness and bringing that home to the adults in their lives,” said Lori Weigel of New Bridge Strategies, one of the survey’s pollsters.

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With funding from the Rose Community Foundation and the Daniels Fund, the Colorado Polling Institute surveyed 655 respondents from June 26 to July 1 about their views on Colorado’s past, present and future. Despite deep political divisions at the state and national level, nearly two-thirds of voters said they agreed with the statement that “Colorado’s best days are ahead,” and 70% agreed that “As Coloradans, we have more in common than what divides us.”

“We had more positive numbers on (those questions) than I was expecting,” Weigel said. “I think a little bit of that might be a glow that we were getting going into July 4th.”

Colorado’s natural beauty, outdoor recreation opportunities and “political and social progressiveness” topped the list of what respondents said was the best thing about Coloradan today. Eighty-four percent said they were proud to be a Coloradan, compared to 75% who said they were proud to be an American.

That gap is driven by the state’s partisan divide, pollsters found. Among self-identified conservative respondents, 97% said they were proud to be an American while just two-thirds were proud to be from Colorado; among liberals, the proportions were almost exactly inverted. Coloradans identifying as socialists were the least likely, at 26%, to say they were proud to be Americans, though 92% of those respondents still said they were proud to be Coloradans.

A 58% majority of voters said Colorado places too little emphasis on civic education, compared to just 5% who said it places too much.

Colorado’s 150th statehood anniversary will be celebrated on August 1 with a flagship celebration beginning at 10 a.m. at the Colorado Capitol, along with events all over the state. A full list of events can be found on the America 250-Colorado 150 website.