On Saturday, Aug. 1, Colorado will turn 150 – marking the date when it became the 38th state in the Union in 1876. Dawn DiPrince, a Colorado State University alumna who earned her bachelor’s degree in English in 1999, said the occasion is more than a birthday. “I’m an English major, so history has always been about storytelling for me,” said DiPrince, who is also Colorado’s historic preservation officer. As head of History Colorado, DiPrince leads the state Department of Higher Education agency that offers access to state history through enriching experiences at 11 museums and historic sites. History Colorado, based in downtown Denver, is a free public research center; it also provides educational programming and stewards photographs and objects that reflect state history.