Colorado Favorites: Local women’s history resources edition

March 21, 2025

Note: Direct quotes were edited for typos, to observe AP style guidelines and to fit the listicle structure.

Colorado’s history is full of female figures, and Cat Jensen is sharing some resources to help interested Coloradans learn more about them.

Jensen, who is the education coordinator at The Center for Colorado Women’s History, listed history museums and sites that teach their visitors about women’s lives and contributions throughout time.

1. The Molly Brown House Museum

Jensen said The Molly Brown House Museum centers around Margaret “Molly” Tobin Brown’s life and impact. According to their website, the museum is located inside her home, which was saved from demolition in the 1970s and fully restored.

“It's listed as a women's history site. Margaret Tobin Brown is most known for surviving The Titanic, but she also ran for senate and was involved in suffrage and other politics, and so, her museum highlights a lot of her contributions to Colorado."

2. The Black American West Museum & Heritage Center

According to their website, The Black American West Museum & Heritage Center works to inform people about the ways African Americans contributed to the development of the Western United States.

Jensen said the museum is located inside the home of Justina Ford, who the museum’s “About” page said was the “first licensed African American female physician in the state of Colorado.” Jensen also added that Ford was known as “Colorado’s Baby Doctor.”

“She helped birth over 7,000 children by making house calls to the Five Points community and was an essential resource at the time for immigrant community members, and people of color and poor folks who were denied access to hospital during the time when she was practicing medicine. So, her house is incredible, and it's just a really, really special experience.”

3. The Greeley History Museum

Jensen also mentioned The Greeley History Museum, specifically highlighting their partnership with The Center for Colorado Women’s History on an upcoming exhibit featuring Kate McHale Slaughterback.

“The Greeley History Museum highlights a woman named Rattlesnake Kate, who we have partnered with them to feature her in our next exhibit, and she lived quite an incredible, interesting life. She's most known for killing over 140 rattlesnakes to defend her and her son, and she was incredibly independent, and doing lots of things that were considered norm-defying for a woman at the time.”

Jensen recommends that people also visit history museums in their cities as many have exhibits that feature women.

“The Golden History Museum and the Aurora History Museum both always have offerings that highlight women, so I would encourage folks to look up all kinds of museums around the state. There's one in Pueblo, there's one in Trinidad, so it's a great way to get to see the state and learn just even more about our history.”