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The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became trained pilots who tested aircraft, ferried aircraft, and trained other pilots. Their purpose was to free male pilots for combat roles during World War II. Despite various members of the armed forces being involved in the creation of the program, the WASP and its members had no military standing.
Antonia Louisa Brico was a Dutch-born conductor and pianist.
Rachel Bassette Noel was an American educator, politician and civil rights leader in Denver, Colorado. She is known for the "Noel Resolution", a 1968 plan to integrate the Denver city school district, and her work to implement that plan, as well as other work on civil rights. When elected to the Denver Public Schools Board of Education in 1965, Noel was the first African-American woman elected to public office in Colorado. In 1996, Noel was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.
Amelia Swilley Bingham was an American actress from Hicksville, Ohio. Her Broadway career extended from 1896 until 1926.
Rhonda Marshall Fields is a Democratic politician from Colorado. She represents District 29 in the Colorado Senate. Previously, she served as member of the Colorado State House of Representatives representing District 42 from Aurora, Colorado. She was the first African American woman elected in State House District 42, as well as the first Speaker pro Tempore.
Emily Howell Warner was an American airline pilot and the first woman captain of a scheduled US airline.
Elizabeth Piper Ensley, was an educator and an African-American suffragist. Born in Massachusetts, Ensley was a teacher on the eastern coast of the country. She moved to Colorado where she achieved prominence as a leader in the Colorado suffrage movement. She was also a journalist, activist, and a leader and founder of local women's clubs.
Reynelda Muse is a former American television news anchor. In 1969 she became the first woman and first African American television news anchor in Colorado, co-anchoring a newscast at KOA-TV in Denver. In 1980 she was part of the first group of anchors on CNN. She is the winner of many awards, including an Emmy Award, and has been inducted into numerous halls of fame. The Reynelda Muse Television Journalism Scholarship, annually awarded to an African American student majoring in television journalism, was established in her honor by the Colorado Association of Black Journalists.
Lena Lovato Archuleta was an American educator, school librarian, and administrator in New Mexico and Colorado for more than three decades. In 1976 she became the first Hispanic woman principal in the Denver Public Schools system. She was also the first Hispanic president of the Denver Classroom Teachers' Association and the Colorado Library Association, and the first female president of the Latin American Education Foundation. She was instrumental in the founding of several political and community advocacy groups for Latinos and served on numerous city and community boards. Following her retirement in 1979, she became a full-time volunteer for the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985. In 2002 the Denver Public Schools system dedicated the Lena L. Archuleta Elementary School in northeast Denver in her honor.
Eliza Pickrell Routt (1839–1907) was a pioneer in women's suffrage and the original first lady of the state of Colorado.
Clara Sears Taylor was an American writer, editor, publicist, and government official, appointed in 1920 by President Woodrow Wilson to serve on the Washington D.C. rent commission. She was the first woman appointed to that office.
Joan Packard Birkland was an American athlete and women's sports advocate. Considered one of Colorado's greatest all-around athletes, she earned multiple titles in women's amateur tennis and golf championships at the city and state level. Following her retirement from competition, she served on numerous sports boards and became involved in sports education for disabled youth. She was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1977, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, and the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.
Eugenia "Jean" Marie Murrell Strode Capers was an American judge, educator, and politician.
Oleta Lawanda Crain was an African-American military officer, federal civil servant, and advocate for black women's rights and desegregation. Out of 300 women nationwide who entered officer training in the U.S. military in 1943, she was one of the three African Americans. She served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, retiring with the rank of major. In 1964 she began working for the United States Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., becoming regional administrator of its Women's Bureau in Denver, Colorado, in 1984. She traveled and spoke extensively to women about employment rights, wages, and career opportunities. She received numerous awards and honors, and was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1988.
Julia Greeley, O.F.S., was an African-American philanthropist and Catholic convert. An enslaved woman later freed by the US government, she is known as Denver's "Angel of Charity" because of her aid to countless families in poverty. Her cause for canonization was opened in 2014.
Pauline Short Robinson (1915–1997) was an American librarian and civil rights activist. She was the first African American to be hired as a librarian in the city of Denver, Colorado. During her 36-year career with the Denver Public Library system, she worked in several branches and served as Coordinator of Children Services for 15 years. In 1996 the Denver Public Library named a newly built branch in Northeast Park Hill in her honor. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
Anna Wolcott Vaile was an American educator who established the Wolcott School for Girls and was on the Board of Regents for the University of Colorado.
Jean Jolliffe Yancey was an American entrepreneur, small business consultant, women's business mentor, and motivational speaker. After working in retail and fashion in New York City and Denver, Colorado, she opened Jean Yancey & Associates in the latter city in 1973, offering training, consulting, and education for women entrepreneurs. In close to 30 years, she assisted more than 1,000 women launching businesses in public relations, advertising, politics, publishing, and other fields, and was known in Denver as "the mother of all businesswomen". She received many awards, including the 1982 National Advocate for Women in Small Businesses award presented by US President Ronald Reagan in a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985.
Dorothy Ann Ortner Horrell is an American educator, university administrator, and philanthropy administrator. From 2016 to 2020, she held the post of Chancellor of University of Colorado Denver. She was previously president of both Red Rocks Community College and the Colorado Community College System, and president and CEO of the Bonfils–Stanton Foundation. In 2009, she was appointed by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to the Colorado State University Board of Governors, which she also served as chair for a two-year term. Active on the boards of many community organizations, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2018.
Zipporah Parks Hammond was the University of Colorado College of Nursing's first African-American graduate and the first Black Director of Medical Records in Colorado. She was a humanitarian, philanthropist, and civil-rights champion in Colorado.