This page is dedicated to the study of the people, organizations, and most importantly, places, that Fort Collins residents have advocated for their civil rights since the creation of Fort Collins in the 1860s. In 2022, the Colorado State Historical Fund awarded the City of Fort Collins a grant of $86,600 to study the history of various civil rights movements in the city since its foundation, document the people and organizations that fought for equality and justice in the community, and to identify places where that fight took place that may be worthy of preserving for future generations.
The documents below examine civil rights themes previously identified by a framework developed by the National Park Service within the local context of Fort Collins. Use the links below to download the entire document or view each of the sections individually.
We're committed to ensuring that all our documents are accessible to everyone. If you encounter any difficulties accessing, viewing or reading the PDFs linked on this webpage, contact our ADA Coordinator at adacoordinator@fortcollins.gov.
We Need Your Help!
Using the information from this historic context, Historic Preservation Services will now be working to survey historic properties identified in the report to learn more about them.
If you have stories, photographs, or research leads that will help us identify important sites and people in Fort Collins associated with civil rights history, please contact us and help us in our effort to tell the full story of our community. Contact us at preservation@fcgov.com.
In the last several years, there have been many cases of well-publicized civil rights violations across the country, new challenges to rights that were gained decades ago, and increases in hate crimes across multiple communities over the last two decades. This project about Fort Collins residents have sought greater civil rights and recognition of human rights over the last two centuries is an important background context for contemporary events. It is the City's hope that this project will:
- Document the full histories of our community and share them with as broad an audience as possible;
- Allow residents of Fort Collins to educate and share with each other about the diversity of their positive and negative experiences since the community's foundation;
- Honor and remember the sacrifices of those who fought for civil rights throughout our community's history, including the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, and other native people who were forcibly removed from their homeland;
- Preserve the places where people made these stories and fought these battles, through recognition and protection under the City's historic preservation ordinance.
- Inform related city policies
Civil Rights History Community Meeting
A community meeting was held July 27, 2022, to kick off this project. People learned about what a historic context is, the intended goals for this project, and asked City staff and McDoux Preservation consultants questions.
Meeting Video
Meeting Q&A Summary(PDF, 287KB)
Meeting QA Summary (en Español)(PDF, 287KB)