A “tailing tale” of Lincoln Hills Cares

Colorado History – Part 3 of 3

By Maggie Magoffin

The Great Migration of the 1910s-1920s is often seen as a movement of African Americans from the South to the North, however it also resulted in the growth of black communities in the West, including Colorado. By the 1920s, Denver had a strong and vibrant black community centered on the Five Points neighborhood, which had several thousand black residents. Most worked as porters, waiters, barbers, and domestic servants, however a growing business and professional class was emerging.  As the community grew larger and more prosperous, the residents faced increasing hostility in the form of racially restrictive housing covenants and a resurgent Ku Klux Klan that recorded 50,000 members across Colorado, including prominent local and state officials.