Black female activist, artist received little recognition for civil rights work in 1930s Colorado Springs gazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Peak Past is a weekly segment written and voiced by Matt Cavanaugh, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and a resident of Manitou Springs where he lives with his wife and two young children.
The tale of Gretchen McRae ends with a cliffhanger.
It might be what first captures your attention about the longtime Colorado Springs resident, but there’s much more to be recognized and celebrated with the civil rights activist and artist who, in 1943, became the first Black woman to run for City Council.
“The details of Gretchen McRae’s life are sketchy, because there are few people alive who knew her well, and because her public life was ill-reported by a press that was as slow as its society to recognize worth beneath the surface. But a picture does begin to form as those who did meet her, however casually, cannot avoid the word ‘brilliant.’ Not quite so obvious, but still discernible, is that she had guts to match the brains,” wrote Gazette Telegraph reporter Ed Ashby in 1978 after McRae’s death.
THURSDAY
Gallop in the Garden 5K Fun Run, a free weekly afternoon event Thursdays in February offered by Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center, 3:30 p.m. Meet in the lower lobby of the center. Prizes after five run, jog or walks, T-shirts after 10 runs. Dogs on leash, bring poo bags. tinyurl.com/yxluk5vp
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
Four new exhibits by Pueblo artists and from collections have just opened at the
Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center in Pueblo, 210 N. Santa Fe Ave. (sdc-arts.org). Exhibits: Dystopian Fictions by Bob Benvenuto, Frank Howell’s Photographs and Prints; Robert Wands: A Retrospective and Unabashed by 17-year-old artist Diego Bueno. Walk-up guests and reservations accepted. $10. 719-295-7200.
Pioneers Museum celebrates 150 years of resilience in the Springs
Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
and last updated 2021-01-30 19:19:51-05
COLORADO SPRINGS â 150 years of greatness is now on display at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.
This year marks a major milestone for the city. July 21, 2021 will be 150Th anniversary of it s founding. Instead of opening this exhibit on the anniversary date, museum staff thought the community needed a reminder, of the people who make The Pikes Peak region great. We think these anniversaries are really important to look backwards, but also what is to come, and our role in making that community what it will be, said Matt Mayberry, Director of the Pioneers Museum.