Last December, Peggy O’Neill-Jones, Ed.D., didn’t just retire from Metropolitan State University of Denver. She left an indelible mark on the University, including a 35-year legacy of pioneering media education, national leadership and even a surprising ancestral connection to the land beneath her feet.
O’Neill-Jones first joined MSU Denver’s faculty in the late 1980s, bringing with her a rich background in photojournalism, broadcasting and interactive media. She was ahead of the curve in digital education, developing the University’s Interactive Media concentration in 1995 and later the Social and Mobile Media concentration in 2013, long before those skills became essential.
But perhaps her most enduring impact lies in the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program, a Library of Congress initiative she brought to MSU Denver 22 years ago. As founding executive director of the TPS Western Region program, O’Neill-Jones led efforts to help educators across 14 states access and integrate primary source materials, from the U.S. Constitution to historic photographs, into their classrooms.
The TPS program at MSU Denver became one of just three regional hubs in the country and has grown under her leadership into a recognized model of civic and historical literacy education. O’Neill-Jones retired once before, in 2016, and was later named professor emeritus and the University’s first Extraordinary Service Award recipient. But her passion for the TPS mission brought her back to continue leading the program.
Now, as she steps down once more, she’s turning her focus to writing a book about her family’s legacy in Colorado golf, including her great-great aunt Ella McLaughlin, who is being posthumously inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame a century after earning statewide recognition, and her great-great uncle, Mac McLaughlin, who won a Pebble Beach Golf Links tournament three times in the 1920s.
That legacy runs even deeper than she expected. While researching her family history, O’Neill-Jones discovered that her relatives once lived on 11th Street — right where MSU Denver’s North Classroom building now stands.
“Over the years, I’ve walked where Mac and Ella walked, visited the same buildings and retraced their footsteps many times. History chased me down the street,” O’Neill-Jones said. “I batted it away like an annoying fly until Mac and Ella planted their spirits before me and shouted, ‘Look up! Look around. Our story surrounds you.’”
In honor of that connection, her family recently established a golf scholarship at MSU Denver, ensuring that their legacy will support future generations of Roadrunners.
As she begins her second retirement, O’Neill-Jones leaves behind more than programs and publications, she leaves behind a legacy of teaching, both on campus and across the country.
“I will miss MSU Denver,” she said. “It has been a privilege to teach the students and contribute to the University’s mission.”
