“Aunt Clara,” as Colorado pioneers knew her, was formerly enslaved in Virginia and Kentucky. She came to a fledgling Denver when she was nearly sixty years old – and Denver was just being born – and became one of the region’s most successful and beloved pioneers. She was a brilliant entrepreneur who built successful business ventures in the face of discrimination, and then spent her own fortune to bring former slaves to start over here in Colorado. She personally cared for the sick and destitute, all the while searching for the family from whom she had been separated by the slave trade.

Jesus once compared himself to a life-giving vine: we are branches, drawing life and bearing fruit by remaining connected to the vine. Clara Brown seemed to understand this. When asked where she drew the strength to live as she did, Clara said, “I just do what Jesus tells me to do.”

We often commemorate famous people on the anniversary of their birth. Yet Clara did not know the date, or even for certain the year, of her own birth. What we do know is that Denver mourned on October 23, 1885, at news of Aunt Clara’s death. We chose that day to remember Clara and tell her remarkable story.

Of course, we’re also naming our new multi-family community after her. We hope that living at Clara Brown Commons will inspire people to be connected the way Aunt Clara was, and to follow her example of compassion, generosity, and neighborly love.

– Jeff Johnsen