History Colorado

Denver Public Library, Special Collections and Archives

Colorado has a long, rich history of African American owned businesses and enterprise. This history is best exhibited in communities such as  Denver’s Five Points.  Five Points became a central point for African Americans moving to Denver in the 1920s.

Early History - Entrepreneurs

Camp Nizhoni was founded in 1924 in response to the segregationist policies of the time, which prevented African American girls from attending the same YWCA camps as white children. 

Lincoln Hills - Camp Nizhoni

Early History - Political Leaders

10th Cavalry soldiers in uniform at Fort Washakie, Wyoming.  More than 180,000 African Americans fought for the Union Army in the Civil War. Of them, more than 33,000 died. War’s end left the future of the Army’s African Americans in doubt.

Early History - Buffalo Soldiers

The early trappers and fur traders, who came to be known in the West as Mountain Men, were the pioneer explorers of Colorado.

Early History - Mountain Men

African American Cowboy, c. 1900, possibly taken around Leadville, Colorado.

Early History - Cowboys

Opened in 1922 by Black entrepreneurs from Denver’s Five Points neighborhood, Lincoln Hills was an oasis in a segregated society—the biggest resort west of the Mississippi built BY and FOR African Americans. People from across the country came to Lincoln Hills to camp, stay in Wink’s Lodge, or buy a lot and build a cabin.


Lincoln Hills

Thanks to the all-Black Phyllis Wheatley branch of the YWCA and the vision of the Lincoln Hills Development Corporation, the YWCA established Camp Nizhoni at Lincoln Hills. The name comes from the Navajo word for “beautiful.” Segregation kept African American women and girls from attending the nearby YWCA girls’ camp at Lookout Mountain. So every summer, up to fifty girls went to Camp Nizhoni to hike, swim and learn outdoor skills. After 18 years in operation, Camp Nizhoni closed in 1945 with the integration of Camp Lookout.


Lincoln Hills - Camp Nizhoni Album

There were no formal Jim Crow laws in Denver, home to Colorado’s largest African American community. But Black citizens still faced widespread discrimination in the early twentieth century. Denver’s Five Points neighborhood created a sense of community when people  had trouble finding housing except in limited areas, were largely confined to low-paying jobs, and met with segregation in schools, parks, and other public places.  CLICK ON THE STARTS TO EXPLORE DENVER IN THE 1920s.

Explore Denver in the 1920s

Explore the development of civil rights throughout Colorado and the United States of America.

Civil Rights Timeline

In the early 1920s, Denver entrepreneur Obrey Wendell Hamlet, known as “Wink,” set out to build a resort in Lincoln Hills. He and first wife Naomi broke ground on a three-story, six-bedroom lodge in 1925 and finished it three years later. They officially named it Wink's Panorama, but everyone knew it as Wink's Lodge.  Wink's Lodge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980


Lincoln Hills - Wink's Lodge

From exploring the Colorado territory to fighting discrimination, to expanding voting rights, African American people have had a long and active role in shaping Colorado's past and present.


Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library

Letter From Birmingham Jail-Martin Luther King Jr.

Early African American History in Colorado

U.S. History

Social Studies

Brown v. Board of Education decision declaring segregation in all U.S. public schools unconstitutional.

Montgomery Bus Boycott begins on December 5, four days after Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man. 

The Little Rock School Desegregation Crisis begins on September 3 when nine African American students try to enroll at Central High School. 

Freedom Rides begin, challenging the non-enforcement of Supreme Court decisions declaring segregated public buses unconstitutional. 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., writes his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” defending the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Civil Rights Act bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin (also unequal voter requirements & segregation)

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs a landmark piece of federal legislation, prohibiting discrimination in voting.

From the integration of the YMCA’s Camp Lookout.  

Camp Nizhoni is closed

Sponsored by the Colored Rodeo Association of Denver

Colorado hosts its first all African American rodeo.  

George Brown (1926–2006) is elected Colorado’s first African American state senator, serving until 1975. Brown was already the first black editor at The Denver Post.

First African American State Senator Elected

Elvin Caldwell is the first African American elsected to serve on Denver's city council, making him the first black city council member west of the Mississippi.

First African American Denver City Council member

Four college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, begin a sit-in at the Woolworth’s Drug Store lunch counter to protest the company’s policy banning African Americans. Sit-in demonstrations spread throughout the South.


Sit-In Demonstrations

This branch is the last official segregated YWCA to close.

Phyllis Wheatley YWCA

Rachel Noel (1918–2008) is the first African American elected the Denver Public School Board. In 1968, she introduces the Noel Resolution, asking the superintendent to create a plan to integrate the city’s public schools. She is also the first black woman elected to Colorado public office.


Noel Resolution

Lauren Watson founds the Denver chapter of the Black Panther Party in the Five Points neighborhood.  The Black Panther Party was founded with an ideology of Black activism, particularly against police brutality.


Black Panther Denver Chapter

In September, dozens of Denver Public Schools buses are destroyed or damaged with fire bombs.  This was the result of opposition to forced integrated busing throughout the Denver Public School district. The goal of the busing program was to achieve ethnically and racially integrated schools.

Donahue Hayes was a student during Denver's busing program.  Donahue discusses being bussed into South High School.  Index with major themes is attached.

Physical Description: 55 minutes. Digital file available on SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/historycolorado/donahue-hayes-student-denver-busing

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Early African American History in Colorado

Civil Rights Timeline

Background Knowledge

1945 CE

1954 CE - 1955 CE

Brown v. Board of Education decision declaring segregation in all U.S. public schools unconstitutional.

1947 CE

1955 CE - 1956 CE

Montgomery Bus Boycott begins on December 5, four days after Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man.

1957 CE - 1958 CE

The Little Rock School Desegregation Crisis begins on September 3 when nine African American students try to enroll at Central High School.

1955 CE

1961 CE - 1962 CE

Freedom Rides begin, challenging the non-enforcement of Supreme Court decisions declaring segregated public buses unconstitutional.

1963 CE - 1964 CE

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., writes his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” defending the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech.

1960 CE

1964 CE - 1965 CE

Civil Rights Act bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin (also unequal voter requirements & segregation)

1964 CE

1965 CE - 1966 CE

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs a landmark piece of federal legislation, prohibiting discrimination in voting.

1965 CE

1966 CE

1970 CE