City flags will be lowered to half-staff today in honor of Rachel B. Noel, the first black woman elected to public office in Colorado when she joined the board of Denver Public Schools in 1965.
Noel died in her sleep Feb. 4 at age 90.
“It is an honor to be able to pay public respect to Rachel Noel,” said Mayor John Hickenlooper. “Those of us who were fortunate enough to spend quality time with her know that she made everyone around her better. She was a courageous woman who had a legendary impact on public education throughout the city and the state.”
Her “Noel Resolution” was essential to the integration of DPS in the late 1960s, according to Hickenlooper’s office.
Gov. Richard Lamm appointed her to the University of Colorado Board of Regents in 1976.
Metropolitan State College honored her by forming the Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship in 1981.
Kirk Mitchell, The Denver Post
