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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:
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:
The Writers’ Digest 1999 national self-published book award, first place for life stories (Separate Lives: The Story of Mary Rippon).

The 2000 Colorado Independent Publishers’ Association first place award for nonfiction (Separate Lives: The Story of Mary Rippon).

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

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.

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