July 14, 2010 NEH Seminar Modupe Labode

1. The West—a wide and varied place—has always been multiracial. 2. Race is a historical construct; it is not a biological reality. 3. Racism is a tricky critter—it hides, masquerades, and appears where you least expect it. 4. The past does not look like the present. This and other images from photoswest.org, Denver Public Library

 Professor of American History at University of Washington  Incoming president of the Western History Association  Creator of website: blackpast.org

 Sanborn Maps  Census Data  Newspapers  Photographs  City Directories

 Colorado Population:  Total: 589,000  White: 529,049  Negro: 8,570  “Indians”: 1,337  Chinese: 599  Japanese: 48  Image: Gilpin School, Denver

 Table 20: Chinese in Denver  1880: 612  1890: 1,398  1900: 599  Peak of Chinese population in the 1880s  Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882 Chinese American home, Denver, ca. 1914

 Table 21: Census— Japanese in Colorado  1880?  1890: 9  1900: 48  Baseball Team: Denver,

 One of the earliest “streetcar suburbs” in Denver.  Gradually became less well-heeled and more diverse throughout the nineteenth century  Architecture reveals its past  The majority of Denver’s African Americans lived in Five Points, but was not wholly African American

 Born in Louisiana in 1867  Moved to St. Louis with her young daughter, Lelia.  Worked as a washerwoman, and began selling Annie Pope-Turnbo’s hair care product.  Moved to Denver in 1905.

 Settled with family  “Politics of Respectability”  Adopted the name Madam C.J. Walker Image from Library of Congress

 Left Denver in 1906  In 1907 she made $3,653, about 3 times more than she made in 1906  Settled in Indianapolis in 1910  Died in 1919

 Born in the 1840s  Father, Ochinee, was a Cheyenne sub-chief.  Married John Prowers, a trader from Missouri  Called “Amy”  Individuals who identify as white and Cheyenne include her in their family tree

 The Homma Children, interned in Colorado. From the Denver Post, July 4, 2009 Homma Children  Official name: Granada  Name chosen to honor or acknowledge Amache Prowers

 Parents were born into slavery. Henry McDaniel, her father, served in the Union Army.  Family left Tennessee in 1879—Exodusters  Hattie born in Kansas, the youngest child.  Family moved to Denver in 1890.

 Father worked as laborer; mother as laundress, cook, maid  Attended 24 th Street School (pictured here) and East High School  Dreams of show business  Married Howard Hickman when she was 17  Finally left Denver in 1925, when she was in her 30s.  Made it to Hollywood in the early 1930s.

 Image from Ball State University  D = Dwelling  S=Store  Street numbers  Stables, sheds, outbuildings  Stories in structure  Alleys, water hydrants, road surfaces, etc.

 Pennsylvania Avenue— Vol. 3, 1904, Sheet #342  30 th & Downing, Vol. 3, Sheet #216

 Other people to consider, for the case of Denver:  Paul Laurence Dunbar, who spent time in Denver around 1900, in search for a cure for TB  Emily French, whose diary describes working class life in Denver, 1890.

Thank you!