This column tells the stories of the people whose faces appear on “A Colorado Panorama: A People’s History,” a two-block-long tile mural on the southeast side of the Colorado Convention Center. Inspired by Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking book, “A People’s History of the United States,” the mural was created by artist Barbara Jo Revelle in 1989 to celebrate those who rarely make it into the history books, but who have nonetheless had a profound impact on the history of our state. This week we’re featuring profiles of Mary Florence Lathrop and James Beckwourth.
Mary Florence Lathrop ‒ First woman admitted to the Colorado Bar Association (1865-1951)
Mary Lathrop began working at 19 as a newspaper reporter for the Philadelphia Press. McClure’s Magazine sent her to Colorado to cover the Cripple Creek miners strike, and then to San Francisco to report on violence against Chinese laborers. She caught pneumonia and decided to return to Colorado to recover. She enrolled at University of Denver’s Law School, graduating first in her class in 1896. Among her other “firsts;” she was the first woman to open a law office in Denver, the first female member of the Colorado Bar Association and, together with one other woman, the first female to join the American Bar Association. Upon her death, she bequeathed the majority of her estate to DU to fund student loans. In 1991, the Colorado Women’s Bar Association established the Mary Lathrop Award in her honor.
James Beckwourth – African-American Explorer, Crow Chief (1798-1867)
One of seven children born to a white master and a slave mother, James Beckwourth was emancipated by his father when he was 26. That year he joined an expedition to Colorado as a wrangler with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He became an independent trapper, moved in with a band of Crow Indians, and married the daughter of the chief. He lived with the band for nine years, and was himself designated a chief. With news of the discovery of gold in California, Beckwourth left the tribe and headed west. He is credited with discovering the Beckwourth Trail, a shortcut through the Sierra Nevada to the gold fields of northern California. He eventually returned to Colorado, where he was appointed U.S. Agent for Indian Affairs. In his later years, Beckworth abandoned Anglo-American society and returned to the Crow reservation where he lived for the remainder of his days.
Week One: Barney L. Ford and Agnes Smedley
Week Two: Benjamin Barr Lindsey and Anne Bassett
Week Three: William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and Clara Brown
Week Four: William “Big Bill” Haywood and Anne Evans
Week Five: Buckskin Charley and “Babe” Didrikson-Zaharias
Week Six: Antonia Brico and Chief Black Kettle
Week Seven: Casimiro Barela and Daisy Anderson
Week Eight: Chogyam Trungpa and Ellen Elliot Jack
Week Nine: Elizabeth Hickok Robbins Stone and Chin Lin Sou
Week Ten: Emily Griffith and Dalton Trumbo
Week Eleven: Chipeta and Wallace Werner
Week Twelve: Eve Drewelowe and Davis Waite
Week Thirteen: Dr. Carl J. Johnson and Florence Sabin
Week Fourteen: Damon Runyon and Emma Langdon
Week Fifteen: Ellison Onizuka and Golda Meir
Week Sixteen: John Lewis Dyer and Helen Hunt Jackson
Week Seventeen: Edward Berthoud and Frances Wisebart Jacobs
Week Eighteen: Hattie McDaniel and Enos Mills
Week Nineteen: Isabella Bird and Francis Schlatter
Week Twenty: Laura Gilpin and Henry O. Wagoner
Week Twenty-One: Justina Ford and George Norlin
Week Twenty-Two: George Bent and Julia Archibald Holmes
Week Twenty-Three: Herbert Bayer and Mabel Barbee Lee
Week Twenty-Four: Martha Maxwell and Chief Ignacio
Week Twenty-Five: Isom Dart and Marvel Crosson
Week Twenty-Six: Jack Dempsey and Mary Long