Thomas Noel (historian)
Thomas Jacob Noel, often introduced in media interviews as Dr. Colorado, is an American historian specializing in the history of the Rocky Mountain West, and especially of the state of Colorado. He is a professor of history at the University of Colorado at Denver, where he teaches classes in the history of the American West, Colorado, Denver, historic preservation, mining and railroads, national parks, and Western art and architecture. He is the co-author or author of more than fifty books, numerous articles, and newspaper columns. He is the director of the Center for Colorado Studies at the Denver Public Library. The center provides many resources for students including Colorado books, book reviews, short-documentaries, as well as Native American, Hispanic, and other resource guides.
Noel won a Colorado Book Award in 1997 among numerous other awards. Noel leads walking, railroading, and motor-coach tours for various groups including The Colorado Historical Society and The Smithsonian.
He chaired the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission and served as a National Register reviewer for Colorado.
Biography
Born in Boston on May 6, 1945, Noel is a graduate of the University of Denver. He received an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Colorado Boulder. His mother and grandmother also received their graduate degree from the University of Colorado Boulder. His early work experience included part-time jobs such as a Christmas card salesman, gardener, paperboy, bus boy, soda jerk, pool hall attendant, life guard, swim instructor, library page, writer, dude ranch roustabout, Colorado Historical Society tour guide, and photo librarian.Noel wrote long-running newspaper columns on western history for the Sunday Rocky Mountain News and The Sunday Denver Post. He television work includes roles as a historical consultant, "talking head", and narrator for The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, The Travel Channel, and local Denver stations. He regularly appears as "Dr. Colorado" on Colorado & Company on Channel 9 in Denver.
His many awards and prizes have come from, among others: The American Institute of Architects, The American Association of State and Local History, the City of Denver, The Old House Society, The Colorado Center for the Book, The Frank Waters Prize, The Angie DeBow Prize and The National Science Foundation.
Books
Leonard, Stephen J. & Thomas J. Noel. A Short History of Denver. Carson City: Univ. of Nevada Press, 2016. xvii+211 p. index. selected bibliography. photos. timeline. paperback $21.95.Noel, Thomas J. & Nicholas J. Wharton. Denver Landmarks & Historic Districts. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2016. xvi + 197 p. index. bibliography. appendices. Photos. drawings. maps. paperback. $29.95.Noel, Thomas J. The University Club of Denver. Denver: University Club of Denver, 2016. 151 p. index, sources, photos, drawings. $49.00.Noel, Thomas J. & Craig Leavitt. Herndon Davis: Painting Colorado History, 1901 – 1962. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2016. ''296 pages, 173 color images. Index, bibliography. 9 x 12 paperback $34.95Noel, Thomas J. Colorado: A Historical Atlas. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2015. xii +,368 p. index, 112 color maps, 109 color illustrations, 7 charts, bibliography. $39.95 hardback.Thomas J. Noel with Jane C. Harper & Craig W. Leavitt. Colorado Newspapers: A History & Inventory, 1859-2000. Denver: Colorado Press Association Founder & Center for Colorado & The West at the Auraria Library, 2014. xv + 432 p. bibliography, appendices, photos, drawings. paperback $49.95. 1,000 copies printed Anschutz, Philip F., William J. Convery & Thomas J. Noel. Out Where The West Begins: Profiles, Visions & Strategies of Early Western Business Leaders. Denver: Cloud Camp Press, Inc., 2015. 392 p., index, chapter sources, color paintings, B & w photos. hardback. Noel, Thomas J., Craig W. Leavitt with Diane B. Wunnicke. A History of the Hilltop Heritage Conservation Overlay District in Denver Colorado. Denver: Center for Colorado & The West at the Auraria Library, 2013. 92 p. index. endnotes. color & b & w photos. maps. paperback. $5.00.Abbott, Carl, Stephen J. Leonard & Thomas J. Noel. Colorado: A History of the Centennial State. Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 2013. fifth, heavily revised edition. xvi + 553p. index. bibliography. endnotes. 125 photos, maps, drawings. biographies. Officials. Statistics and symbols. 6" x 9 1/4" hardback & paperback. $29.95This thorough survey emphasizes the state's 20th century urbanization, environmental issues, multi-culturalism and boosterism.Noel, Thomas J. University of Colorado Hospital: A History. Denver: University of Colorado Hospital Foundation, 2013. 155 p. index. Sources. color & b & w images. 9 ½ x 12 ½’ hardback. $50.Gallagher, Dennis, Thomas Jacob Noel & James Patrick Walsh. Irish Denver. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012. 128 p., index, bibliography, b + w photos and drawings, 6 ½” x 9 ¼”Paperback. $21.99. Noel, Thomas J. & Debra B. Faulkner. The Colorado Story. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith Education, 2011. xvii + 238 p. Index. Glossary. Maps. color and black and white images. 10” x 11” hardback. $44.95Mile High Tourism: Denver's Convention & Visitor History, with Debra Faulkner.Showtime: Denver's Performing Arts & Convention Centers, with Amy Zimmer.A Guide to Colorado Historic Places Boulder, Colo.: Westcliffe Publishers.- with Carl Abbot and Stephen J. Leonard, Boulder, Colo.: Univ. Press of Colorado,.
- Golden, Colo.: Fulcrum Publishing,.