Black History Month - Barney L. Ford

article is from The Denver Post - 1906

Barney L. Ford was born a slave in Virginia, his freedom was established when he was sent on a business trip to Ill. by his master.

Once in Ill., he was informed that he stood on free soil and was a free man. He never returned to Dixie.

He learned the barber trade in Chicago, engaged in business in Centtral America, was a steward in the Vanderbuilt household and was in the hotel business in Virginia.

He came to Denver, Colorado in 1860 and had various enterprises. Hotel's were his specialties.

In 1867 he built the Ford House at Cheyenne and the Inter Ocean Hotel in Denver on 16th and Blake Street.

He served on the Colorado State Legislature. He passed away in 1906 as a wealthy man.

Freedom Riders

This is the month of February and if I am not mistaken it is Black history month. The Smithsonian magazine has a great story on the Freedom Riders and tells where some of those people are today.

For those who do not know about the Freedom Riders, they were volunteers who traveled the South on regular scheduled buses for 7 months in 1961. This was done to test a 1960 Supreme Court decision that declared segregated facilities for interstate passengers illegal.

Here are a few of these people and where they are today: John Lewis and Bob Filner are congressmen, one for the state of California, one for the state of Georgia.

Russell and Mary Jorgenson are 91 and 92 years old now and live in California.

and my all time favorite Joan Pleune, 70 still doing her thing with the Granny Peace Brigade in N.Y.

I admire these people and people everywhere that stand up for injustice. I, however am a couch protester, the closest I've come to protesting is for my vet where I signed a petion and sat at a city council meeting at City Hall (I didn't go to the podium to speak). I think that penrose gene missed me.

It did not miss my Uncle Boise (pronounced boyce), he was walking back to the family home on Spruce Street one day when he passed a factory. In front of this factory was a crowd, a gentleman on a soap box was airing his discontent for the establishment that he was in front of. My Uncle agreed with everything the man said, better wages etc. So, my Uncle got up and expressed his opinion agreeing with the gentleman.

My Uncle was very pleased with himself, at dinner he was going to share his day with the family when my grandfather, already knowing the events, blasted his older son. Unfortunately, the Penrose family had stock in this very factory. My Uncle, who wrote poems, plays and had a heart for the underdog, was told he had done a very irresponsible thing and that he was going to have to learn responsibility. He became a lawyer and a senator.

I often wonder what his life would have been like if he could have followed his creative nature.