Jan MacKell Collins
School
Saddleback Community College, University Of Colorado At Colorado Springs
Expertise
Western History, Women's History With An Emphasis On The Prostitution Industry
- Jan has authored and co-authored seventeen books with University of New Mexico Press, Arcadia Publishing, The History Press and Globe Pequot Publishing. She has done numerous programs, television appearances, and radio interviews in Arizona, Colorado, California, New Mexico and Oregon. In 2015, she appeared on TruTV's "Adam Ruins Everything" as a "history expert" on the subject of historical prostitution.
- Jan has also written thousands of articles for True West Magazine, Backwoods Magazine, Colorado Central Magazine, The Frontier Gazette, Legends Magazine, The Colorado Gambler's history section, Backwoods Home Magazine, Grunge, and more.
- She also has experience in media, producing, researching and writing Voices of Cripple Creek, Phenix Rising: Historic Buildings of Cripple Creek, The Timeless Art of Gold Extraction, and an upcoming series for television.
Experience
Jan has enjoyed working in the history field for over thirty years. It has been her immense pleasure to bring madams and prostitutes of the past to the forefront as women who contributed heavily to the formation of the frontier west. She is a former Historic Preservation Commissioner for the City of Cripple Creek, Colorado, and former Director of the Cripple Creek District Museum and Old Homestead Parlor House Museum. Currently she is a member of the Historic Preservation committee for the City of Powers, Oregon and has maintained social media sites for Sharlot Hall Museum in Arizona and the Lowell Thomas Museum in Victor, Colorado. Jan also owned and operated the Cripple Creek Music Company, as an agent for both musicians and the public houses where they played. Jan enjoys working with independent researchers, museums, libraries, government entities, and other institutions to discover, interpret and share the history of the American West.
Education
At Saddleback Community College, Jan studied English and Journalism before moving to Colorado Springs, where she attended the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs to study Mass Communications. She has also studied independently with professors within her field to hone her non-fiction and creative writing skills, as well as her expertise in history.
The unique content on Grunge is a result of skilled collaboration between writers and editors with a broad array of expertise in everything from history to classic Hollywood to true crime. Our goal is to provide accurate and diverse content bolstered by expert input.
Focused on accuracy and ethical coverage, the Grunge editorial team consistently fact-checks and reviews site content to provide readers with an informative, entertaining, and engaging experience. Click here for more information on our editorial process.
Stories By Jan MacKell Collins
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Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people played key roles in settling the American West. Read on for the untold truth of LGBTQ+ people in the Old West.
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Cass Elliot's life was fraught with heartbreak, the trials of being a single mother, her weight, and even a brush with the notorious Manson Family.
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In 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the United States Army — as a man. Read on for the fascinating story of the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Army.
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When the Civil War broke out, secret agents were important to both the Union and the Confederacy. Interestingly, a good number of them were women.
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A sexy siren of the screen, Broadway, radio, and even television, Mae West was the epitome of a wicked femme fatale. Here's her story
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What happened to Hollywood as thousands of people moved there during the town's fledgling years? Read on to see what Hollywood was up to the year you were born.
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Very few places in the Old West had indoor plumbing. So how did people get clean? Read on to find out about hygiene practices in the Wild West.
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With "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," Fred Rogers brought happiness into many children's lives. This is the Untold Truth of Mr. Rogers
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As one might guess, an epic band like the Eagles has a story to tell about their rise to fame. Read on for the untold truth about the Eagles.
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Over 100 nuclear weapons were tested in Nevada in the '50s and '60s, and the fallout affected tons of people. This is the tragic history of nuclear downwinders.
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While seeing a ghost can be frightening, it might want to help you or keep you from harm. Stories abound worldwide about such friendly and helpful spirits
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John Wayne is legendary for his cowboy films. But which are the best? These are the best westerns starring John Wayne.
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If you've purchased a concert ticket in the recent past, there's a chance that you winced at the hefty price. Here's a look at the world's richest rock bands.
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Beyond the famous beer, generations of the Anheuser-Busch families have endured personal troubles. Read on for the tragic history of the Anheuser-Busch dynasty.
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Fine-tuning the railroad system has been a true trial-and-error process, with lots of messy accidents along the way, including ones that everyone has forgotten.
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There have been a lot of changes in the drug industry through the centuries, with drugs coming and going, and offering to cure a variety of ailments.
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Who doesn't love a good western? Hollywood likes pitting the good guys against the bad guys, the bloodier the better, regardless of historical accuracy.
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Texas became its own republic after it was acquired during the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. It's fight for independence was full of politics and battles.
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Period films are made to be entertaining but historically inaccurate movies can give misconceptions of history. Here are films that got Victorian history wrong.
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Classic TV is comfort food for the mind. That includes shows of long ago, many of which met their demise before they should have but are now wildly popular.
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In April 2015, six elderly professional thieves broke into the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company in London and made off with some £14 million.
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Gender swapping has been going on for a long time—even in the long-ago Wild West, when men and women frequently donned each other's clothing.
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By 1883,William Cody had founded his grand production, "Buffalo Bill's Wild West." So what was it like to work for this enigmatic and charming man?
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The love for westerns goes back to the late 1800's, the actual beginning of motion pictures, which quite literally took place in the still-alive Wild West.
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Forecasting the weather is never a sure thing, and neither is live TV. Here are some weathermen bloopers that we can't stop watching.
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The Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, were openly lesbian folk artists at a time when few people were out. This is the untold truth of the Indigo Girls.
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The truth about bank robberies in the Wild West is that although they are popular fodder for western movies, there really weren't that many in the early days.