Plains to Peaks Collective

Mary Elitch Long was a successful entrepreneur during a time when women had few freedoms in society outside of their families.  Her work paved the way for countless other women who strived to find success in a male dominated world.

Mary Elitch Long - Entrepreneur

Caroline Nichols Churchill (1833-1926), a feminist, suffragist, and journalist who hailed from Canada but settled in Colorado in 1879, becoming a significant influence on Colorado’s road to women’s suffrage. She was the owner and editor of the Colorado Antelope (October 1, 1897 – June 15, 1882) and its continuation under a different name The Queen Bee (July 5, 1882 – approx. January 1, 1915. In this article Caroline asks what good has come from giving women the right to vote. Why does Caroline think women should be given the right to vote? Highlight and comment on her main points of the discussion. 

Caroline Nichols Churchill: Activist, Suffragist, Author

Chipeta, or White Singing Bird in the Ute language (1843 or 1844 – August 1924), was a Native American woman known for the courage and valor she demonstrated in her efforts to mediate peace between Native Americans and whites.  Her diplomatic influence grew as she traveled with her husband Chief Ouray while he negotiated with whites and other Ute leaders for Ute lands. 

She was the only woman of her time invited to sit on the Ute Tribal Council. Chipeta and Chief Ouray led a delegation of Utes to Washington, DC to negotiate a treaty regarding reservation resettlement. Despite the ultimate removal of her people from their homelands, Chipeta committed her life's work to bettering conditions of the Ute people and used her influence to try to achieve peace with the white settlers.  


Chipeta: Native American Rights Advocate and Diplomat

Dr. Justina Ford overcame prejudice and discrimination to become Colorado's first female African-American physician. Excluded from the medical establishment because she was a black woman, Dr. Ford was a pioneer in opening up the medical profession to black people and women in general. Known in her later years as the Baby Doctor for delivering an estimated 7,000 babies in her career, she practiced medicine tirelessly all her life, caring and showing great compassion for people from all backgrounds at a time when Colorado's poorest, immigrants, and people of color had little access to medicine. Her pioneering efforts as well as her humanitarian service to others makes Dr. Ford an extraordinary figure in Colorado and American history. 

Dr. Justina L. Ford - Colorado's First Black Woman Doctor

 Explore the work of Hannah Marie Wormington and her colleagues at the Frazier excavation site in Weld County, Colorado.

Hannah Marie Wormington, PhD. - American Archeologist 

The women of Colorado helped shape the development of the state through their leadership, courage, and ingenuity. This resource kit explores the lives and achievements of just a few influential women and the times in which they lived. How did their achievements shape the state? What barriers did they have to overcome in their lives? How are their lives remembered today?

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Notable Colorado Women