A retrospective of Black history in Colorado

By Colorado Public Radio Staff
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Courtesy of Chris Fenison
Dr. Justina Ford, circa 1920s. The first African American female doctor in Denver, Ford was initially denied a medical license. She and her patients were also denied access to Denver hospitals. Even so, late in life she estimated that she had delivered roughly 7,000 babies during her fifty-year career. In 1984, her Arapaho Street house and home office, scheduled for demolition by the city, was moved to its current location on California Street where it serves as the home of the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center.

February is Black History Month. Here's a list of stories to spark your curiosity about the achievements and contributions of African Americans throughout Colorado's history.

Black history across Colorado

Dearfield – a refuge for Black homesteaders in the 1900s – could become part of the National Park Service

‘We Are Making Up For Lost Time’: Tracking Little-Known Stories Of African American, LGBTQ And Women’s Colorado History

As the 130th anniversary of Hattie McDaniel’s birth arrives, a relative seeks to know more about her Colorado roots

Colorado’s Black history — and future — go on display in a new unlikely center of Black culture: Boulder

Courtesy of Charles Nuckolls
A group of homesteaders at the Dearfield settlement, about 65 miles northeast of Denver.

Black history in the Denver Metro Area

Denver’s first Black fire station just won national recognition. This is its story

Remembering Nancelia Jackson, who lived in Cherry Creek for almost 100 years — since it was a “little colony of Black people”

The Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library is reopening. It’s new look and layout purposefully center Blackness

The lives Justina Ford, Denver’s first black woman doctor, touched

A piece from the "Sister Rosetta" Art Exhibition at Denver's Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library.

Audio stories about Black history in Colorado

🎧 The Real-Life Black Klansman Ron Stallworth Talks Infiltrating The Colorado Ku Klux Klan

🎧 Marking Black History Month with a visit to Lincoln Hills

🎧 Denver’s Five Points neighborhood: a thriving cultural touchstone for the city’s Black community

🎧 Denver historian recalls the impact U.S. presidents have had on Black Americans

🎧 Preserving African American history in the Mountain West; Inspiring learners

🎧 Boulder singer Otis Taylor tackles tough decisions in ‘Hey Joe Opus’

🎧 The gift of historic newspapers helps preserve the day-to-day lives of Denver’s Black citizens

🎧 How a Black hiker from Aurora champions inclusivity in the outdoors, one TikTok at a time

🎧 Founder Of ‘Blackpackers’ Shares Her Trail Experience And The Message It Carries


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