Handling History
Nancy Wynstra-Cope: Avery House Practicum

By Josh Zaffos

Anthropology major Nancy Wynstra-Cope

Through her practicum at the Avery House in Old Town Fort Collins, Nancy Wynstra-Cope gets to handle and catalogue 19th-century artifacts of life in Fort Collins, and even restores broken materials from the era so they can be displayed. Her and other students’ work and service at the historic home and museum were featured in the Rocky Mountain Collegian in January 2024.

Wynstra-Cope (ANTH BA ’24, History minor and Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies certificate ) completed the practicum as part of her degree requirements, finding an experience that connected all her fields of study. The 1879 Avery House operates as a historic museum run by the Poudre Landmark Foundation, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Some people [say] ‘Oh, this seems so boring.’ But it’s like, ‘No, this is so fascinating,’” Wynstra-Cope told the Collegian.