Collection NumberMSS 0394DescriptionJulia Skolas was born in Wisconsin in May 1863 of Norwegian parents and spent her early years living on a farm in Wisconsin. By the late 1890s, Julia had made her way west and had set up shop as a photographer in Colorado Springs. In 1907, she moved her business to Cripple Creek and established a new photography studio on bustling Bennett Avenue. In late 1924, she moved to Denver where she continued her photography work. Sometime after 1930, Julia returned to her home state of Wisconsin where she remained until her death on December 31, 1934.
Described in James Semple’s Representative Women of Colorado as a very successful artistic photographer, Julia is one of only a handful of successful pioneer women photographers whose work is still available for viewing. Not only did she take beautiful studio portraits, her portfolio also includes numerous landscape views and a whole range of images capturing the dynamic mining industry that flourished in turn of the century Colorado.
