Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement,which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law and civil society. The movement led to several groundbreaking legislative reforms in the United States.
Coretta Scott King was an American author,activist,and civil rights leader who was the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968. As an advocate for African-American equality,she was a leader for the civil rights movement in the 1960s. King was also a singer who often incorporated music into her civil rights work. King met her husband while attending graduate school in Boston. They both became increasingly active in the American civil rights movement.
Wellington E. Webb is an American politician. He served in the Colorado House of Representatives and was the first African American mayor of Denver,Colorado,serving from 1991 to 2003. He served as a Democrat.
According to the 2010 Census,the racial makeup of Denver is 68.9% White,10.2% Black or African American,3.4% Asian,1.4% American Indian or Native Alaskan,0.1% Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian,and 4.1% two or more races,with 31.8% of Hispanic or Latino origin.
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.
Albert Ely Edwards was an American politician who served in the Texas Legislature,representing District 146. He is best known as the principal proponent of the Juneteenth Texas state holiday,approved in 2007,which in 2021 became a federal holiday. Edwards served on three of the most influential Committees,including the Rules and Resolutions Committee,the Budget and Oversight Committee,and the Appropriations Committee.
Katie Beatrice Hall was an American educator in Gary,Indiana,and a politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1982 to 1985. When Hall was sworn into federal office on November 2,1982,she became the first black woman from Indiana elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Hall represented Indiana's 1st Congressional District in the final months of the 97th Congress and an entire two-year term in the 98th Congress from 1983 to 1985. She is best known for sponsoring legislation and leading efforts on the floor of the U.S. House in 1983 to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a national holiday after previous efforts had failed. H.R. 3706 to establish the third Monday in January as a federal holiday in King's honor was introduced in July 1983 and passed in the House on August 2,1983. President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law on November 2,1983.
Frances (Fran) Natividad Coleman is an American politician. She is a former elected state representative from Colorado. A Democrat,she represented House District 1 in Southwest Denver from 1998 to 2006.
Rhonda Marshall Fields is a Democratic politician from Colorado. She represents District 28 in the Colorado Senate. During the 2020 reapportionment process,Buckner's residence moved from senate district 29 to senate district 28. Earlier,she represented District 29 from January 2017 to January 2023. 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.
Gloria Travis Tanner was a politician and public figure in Colorado. A Democrat,she served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1985-1994. In 1994,she became the first African American woman to serve as a Colorado state senator. In 2000,she founded a leadership and training institute for black women in Colorado. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.
Elinor "Ellie" Miller Greenberg was an American author educationalist and speech pathologist,an expert in the field of adult education and experiential learning,as well as a former civil rights activist. She saw access to education as a social justice issue,and spent over thirty years creating higher education programs for non-traditional students. She headed the University Without Walls program in the 1970s;created a weekend BSN program for nurses in rural Colorado;established a degree program for Colorado prison inmates and ex-offenders;and established online master's degree programs for nurses in the 1990s. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2010.
Virginia H. Fraser was an American activist for human rights,women's rights,and elder rights. She was the Long-Term Care Ombudsman for the state of Colorado for more than two decades. She co-wrote several works on nursing home care and eldercare. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.
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.
Arlene Hirschfeld is an American community activist. Since the 1980s,she has served on the board of trustees of numerous Denver and Colorado state organizations,working in advisory,leadership,and fundraising capacities. The recipient of numerous awards,she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2006.
A United States federal statute honoring the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and his work in the civil rights movement with a federal holiday was enacted by the 98th United States Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on November 2,1983,creating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The final vote in the House of Representatives on August 2,1983,was 338–90 with 5 members voting present or abstaining,while the final vote in the Senate on October 19,1983,was 78–22,both veto-proof margins.
Ruth Cousins Denny was a Black educator and civil rights activist in Denver,Colorado. Denny dedicated her life to combating racial injustice and educating young people. Denny was a founding member of the Denver chapter of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and led direct actions around Denver.
Edna Wilson-Mosley was a prominent politician,civil rights activist,and educator in Denver and Aurora,Colorado. Wilson-Mosley was a civil rights specialist for Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission. She was the only Black founder of Women's Bank and served on the Board of Directors. She was married to John Mosley,a highly respected and original Tuskegee Airman.
Elbra Mae Wedgeworth is a civil servant in Denver,Colorado. Wedgeworth is the only person in recent history to hold positions in all three branches of Denver's city government.
Betty Irene Neale was an American lobbyist and state legislator in Colorado. She served in the Colorado House of Representatives as a Republican from 1975-1992. She became the first woman Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives during the 1991-1992 term.
Rosalind Juanita "Bee" Harris is the founder of Denver Urban Spectrum,a monthly newspaper for people of color in Colorado. She founded the Urban Spectrum Youth Foundation in 2000.
