Colorado Leaders of Democracy

Women are leaders of democracy – working to further the form of government that we revere in the U.S. and working to strengthen our communities. Colorado has led the nation in democratic progress and women’s rights in many instances: Colorado was the first state in the US to expand suffrage rights to women, the first state to elect female state legislators, including those of color, and Colorado women regularly turn out to vote in numbers that dwarf other states’ records.

But women’s leadership in Colorado began long before official statehood – not surprisingly, our region’s indigenous and pioneer populations produced women with the strength and courage to demand equal voice and power and serve as leaders of their communities. One powerful platform for these leaders has been and remains the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Colorado, established in 1928.

This exhibit is a collaborative effort between the League of Women Voters of Colorado and the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame to celebrate these outstanding women “Leaders of Democracy” through history.

The founder of United Way (1887), Frances Wisebart Jacobs* is called the “Mother of Charities.” She also founded National Jewish Hospital which treated patients suffering from tuberculosis without requiring payment. Jacobs is the only woman featured in the sixteen stained glass windows in the Colorado Capitol dome.

Elizabeth Ensley served as treasurer of the Colorado Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association and helped get Colorado women the right to vote in 1893. She founded several organizations for African-American women to ensure they were educated about voting rights and were provided with ways to advance their communities. Ensley was honored in 2021 as a League of Women Voters of Colorado Leader of Democracy for her advocacy for racial and gender equity.

Antoinette “Tony” Perry-Frueauff was a stage actress, director, humanitarian and activist. She co-founded the American Theatre Wing through which she coordinated thousands of auditorium and hospital wing entertainments during World War II. After her death, the Tony Awards, recognizing excellence in the theater, were established and named in her memory honoring her lifelong efforts to foster new talent.

One of only three African-American women to enter officer training in the U.S. military in 1943, Oleta Crain initially served in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. The only black woman retained by the U.S. military after World War II, she retired from the Air Force as a major. A lifelong advocate for women and people of color, after her retirement from the Air Force, she served as a regional administrator for the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Ruth Stockton became a powerful legislator, running for state office for the first time after her daughter left for college. She served a total of 24 years – first in the Colorado House of Representatives for which she won the 1960 election and then in the Colorado Senate. The first woman president pro tempore of the Colorado Senate, she worked to improve health and education for children and rights for women.

At age 12, Arie Parks Taylor became the guardian for her ten brothers and sisters (including a newborn) after her mother died in childbirth. She successfully reared them and after a ground-breaking career in the Women’s Air Force, moved to Denver, where in 1972, she became the first African-American woman elected to the Colorado House of Representatives. She championed many issues for women and the poor during her years in the legislature and continued breaking ground in her later career.

Pat Schroeder represented Colorado for twelve terms in the U.S. House of Representatives starting in 1972. She worked tirelessly to establish national family policy, including issues like parental leave, child care, family planning, and more. Pat wrote the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1985 and worked to enact legislation and secure funding for key legislation to support women's health research.

Educator and advocate for the Latina community, Maria Guajardo was born to illiterate Mexican migrant workers. Since 1988, she has committed herself to improving the lives of children and has advocated to keep children in school by understanding why they drop out, worked for world peace and advocated for children in third-world countries. She has been active in youth development as well as issues related to Latino education and health care.

The first woman to serve as Mayor of Colorado Springs (1997), Mary Lou Makepeace advocated for equal treatment for all. After her terms which saw the first female municipal judges appointed, she worked at The Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado furthering her objectives of equality, diversity, and inclusivity. Mary Lou continues her efforts to build economically self-sufficient and strong women who pursue an education and participate in the electoral process.

Former First Lady of Colorado Dottie Lamm is an author, speaker, university educator, activist and feminist. She ran for the U.S. Senate in 1998 after twenty years as a columnist for The Denver Post. A co-founder of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, she served as its first president. A founder of the Democratic Women’s Caucus of Colorado, Lamm was honored in 2016 as a League of Women Voters of Colorado Leader of Democracy.