Colorful Coloradans Biographies
![Portrait of Lena Archuleta.](/sites/history/files/styles/story/public/cdm_33_2.jpg?itok=k2TTQTvd)
Lena Archuleta (1920 - 2011)
Denver's first Hispanic female school principal, Lena Archuleta was dedicated to improving life for all people, especially Hispanic Denverites.
![Caroline Bancroft](/sites/history/files/styles/story/public/Caroline%20Bancroft.jpg?itok=vcsj98gs)
Caroline Bancroft (1900 - 1985)
Historian, journalist, and philanthropist whose stories about Colorado history helped spark new interest in the state's past.
![Studio portrait of Colorado State Senator (Las Animas County) Casimiro Barela. He wears a vest and jacket, a bow tie and an upright collar. He has a full, waxed mustache and his dark hair has a cowlick and is parted on the side.](/sites/history/files/styles/story/public/cdm_1104.jpg?itok=PLG-2HaE)
Casimiro Barela (1847-1920)
Casimiro Barela was a long-serving senator in the Colorado legislature.
![Portrait of George Bent, a mixed-blood who chose to live and fight as a Cheyenne warrior, with his wife Magpie. Bent wears a suit and moccasins, he has a moustache. Magpie wears a dress decorated with elk teeth, quillwork and fringe, and a hairpipe choker; her hair is in braids.](/sites/history/files/styles/story/public/cdm_13_0.jpg?itok=a287O7vU)
George Bent (1843 - 1918)
Cheyenne-American interpreter and historian who often found himself caught between his mother's Cheyenne world and his father's white American world.
Black Kettle (1807 - 1868)
Black Kettle was a chief of the Southern Cheyenne people. He fought for peace even as his people suffered brutality and death at the hands of the government.
![Omar Blair Portrait 1978](/sites/history/files/styles/story/public/2023-10/BlairWh21291978.jpg?itok=Ii2k9NBi)
Omar Blair (1918 - 2004)
Omar Blair served in the segregated U.S. military during World War II and returned to Denver where he joined the school board and worked to integrate Denver Public Schools.
![Portrait photograph of Ralph Carr](/sites/history/files/styles/story/public/carr%20portrait.jpg?itok=i1TAIYG-)
Ralph Carr (1887-1950)
Governor of Colorado who served during WWII. He publicly opposed putting Japanese Americans into incarceration camps.
![Elizabeth Piper Ensley](/sites/history/files/styles/story/public/portrait.jpg?itok=mwPmUBr4)
Elizabeth Piper Ensley (1847 - 1919)
Elizabeth was born the child of a former slave and spent her life fighting for women's suffrage and the rights of African Americans.
![Portrait of Maude Fealy](/sites/history/files/styles/story/public/maude%20stock%20star.jpg?itok=FE4OUcIJ)
Maude Fealy (1881-1971)
Actress, author, director and teacher known for her work in silent film and plays at the historic Elitch Theatre
![Studio portrait of Eugene Field in San Francisco, California. He holds a cane and wears an overcoat and bowler hat.](/sites/history/files/styles/story/public/cdm_27491.jpg?itok=cw0iQ_aM)
Eugene Field (1850 - 1895)
Poet, newspaper writer, and humorist whose poetry for and about children is still widely read today.