“A sweet and bitter song is haunting the Savoy Ballroom in Denver’s Curtis Park neighborhood. On stage, Robert Thomas III – that’s Bobby Trombone, to you — the bell captain of the legendary Rossonian Hotel, and a few of his fellow staffers are going about their business and sharing their dreams in the history-recovering … [Read more…]
“History Colorado will soon set out on a preservation road trip across the state to explore and investigate Green Book sites thanks to a national grant. These places were businesses that would serve Black travelers when segregation was legal. History Colorado’s State Historic Preservation Office was awarded an almost $75,000 grant by the National … [Read more…]
“The Blair-Caldwell African-American Research Library (BCAARL) in Five Points recently received a donation of a mural that has its origins in the building it now lives in. The artwork was part of an exhibit at History Colorado and was commissioned by the Five Points Plus: Neighborhood Memory Project, where longtime residents, families and friends … [Read more…]
“Jameka Lewis, senior librarian at Five Points’ Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, was taken aback when she finally had the opportunity to see the newspapers up close. The Denver Public Library had recently acquired eight rare, pristine issues of the Black Panther Party’s official newspaper. Once they were catalogued, boxed up and delivered to … [Read more…]
“When Denver was young, the area surrounding Santa Fe Drive became the gateway to the city. Close to rail lines, it was the natural place for immigrants and settlers to land as they moved west. Today, we call that area the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood. The neighborhood’s demographics shifted as the city grew, and … [Read more…]
“The two-hour event showcases not only birthday greetings and interviews from her remaining patients and community members, but also a range of performances such as a reenactment of Dr. Ford’s only known interview and the first ever public display of the handwritten letter to the Colorado Medical Society that documents her delivery of 7,000 … [Read more…]
“Walking through the streets of Denver, you will see murals of all different shapes, sizes and colors. The artists who create these colorful masterpieces use the places and people who add flavor to the city as their template. Tucked away on a wall in a parking lot along Walnut Street in Denver’s RiNo District, … [Read more…]
“Juneteenth on Friday celebrates the official end of slavery in the United States, when Union soldiers arrived in Texas on June 19, 1865 — more than two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation — to share the news that the Civil War was over and that slaves were freed. And while Juneteenth has its … [Read more…]
“It’s been decades since Manning Rollerson cut the grass in front of his grandmother’s home in Freeport, a petrochemical town of about 12,000 that’s situated on the Gulf, about an hour’s drive south of Houston. But he still remembers the way the wild onion would burn his eyes as he pushed a barely functioning … [Read more…]
“As a child, Olivell Owens wondered about the water under the “whites only ” sign. Did it taste different than what flowed from the fountains where she and other African-Americans were supposed to drink in her hometown of Conway, Arkansas? She crossed the color line for a sip. Her fearlessness didn’t end there. When … [Read more…]