Ensley, Elizabeth Piper, 1847-1919

Colorado was far ahead of other states in beginning to grant voting rights to women. When Colorado's voters passed HB 118 in November of 1893, it was the first time in U.S. history that a popular vote had passed women's suffrage into law. Elizabeth Piper Ensley was instrumental in Colorado’s path towards that moment. Piper was an African American educator, political activist, and suffragist, so it is only natural that this Black History Month, her achievements are highlighted, and her story told.
2020 will now see her recognized as an honoree in the National Women’s History Alliance. An often hidden figure in the women’s movement narrative, Ensley will now also receive a posthumous induction in the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

Elizabeth Piper Ensley (January 19, 1847 – February 23, 1919), was an educator and an African-American suffragist.[1] Born in Massachusetts, Ensley was a teacher on the eastern coast of the country. She moved to Colorado where she achieved prominence as a leader in the Colorado suffrage movement. She was also a journalist, activist, and a leader and founder of local women's clubs.
Upon returning from Europe on December 22, 1870,[9] she established a circulating library in Boston[1][10] and became a public school teacher,[10] working in Trenton, New Jersey.[8] From 1882 to 1883, Elizabeth was a member of the faculty of Howard University.[8][14] She taught at Alcorn State University in Mississippi before moving to Denver.[15][1] Ensley was the Denver correspondent for the Woman's Era, the national publication of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) by 1894,[17] when she reported on the first election in which women could vote.[18] It was the first monthly newspaper published by and for African-American woman.[9]
Relief efforts
Due to the Silver Panic of 1893, miners who had lost their jobs were in Denver with their families.[9] In Colorado, Elizabeth joined Denver's relief efforts for the poor and the homeless,[1] contacting people that she knew in Washington, D.C. and Boston to help fund relief efforts.[9]

Suffrage and politics
Women had the right to vote in school board elections, but not in other elections, in accordance with the state constitution of 1876.[9] Inspired by her experiences with the women's suffrage groups in Boston, Elizabeth joined the campaign to put a women's suffrage amendment on the November 1893 ballot in Colorado,[1] so that women could vote in all elections.[9] She was the treasurer of the Colorado Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association, and beginning with a fund of 25 dollars, helped gain the money necessary for the campaign.[1] Ensley worked to persuade African-American men to vote in favor of voting rights for women.[19] The suffrage amendment was approved in November 1893, making Colorado the second state to grant voting rights to women.[1]

Alongside Ida Clark DePriest,[20] she organized the Colorado Colored Women's Republican Club to teach African-American women to be educated voters.[1] While she identified most with the Republican Party, she wrote that "there should be thorough and systematic organization of the women of all parties."[21][22]

She established the Women's League in 1894 to inform black women how to vote, communicate the importance of voting, and communicate the nature of the issues.[9][17] She was also very involved in ensuring equality for all and civil rights.[9]

Women's clubs
She founded the Colorado Association of Colored Women's Clubs (CACW) in 1904,[17] which created a stronger alliance by joining eight organizations throughout Colorado.[23] The CACW led community and educational programs, including the George Washington Carver Day Nursery.[1] Ensley served as the second Vice President of the Colorado State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. She delivered an address to the Federation in 1906 titled "Women and the Ballot."[24] Ensley was the only African-American member of the predominantly white board of the Colorado Federation of Women's Clubs.[1]

Elizabeth Piper Ensley was an African American educator, political activist, and suffragist. Her leadership was instrumental in Colorado’s victorious campaign for full voting rights in 1893. Ensley dedicated her career to organizing for women’s rights, especially for African American women. She led critical local, state, and national women’s organizations where she worked to bridge the racial lines in women’s organizations.
She was one of the key members of the Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association of Colorado and one of the 28 original members when the association was created in 1893. She was one of only a handful of African American women leaders nationwide who worked for suffrage rights within the racially integrated campaign, the CNPESA. Ensley also was instrumental in mobilizing African American women to join the suffrage campaign and persuading African American men to vote for women’s suffrage.

Ensley founded the Colorado Association of Colored Women’s Clubs in 1904 and served as an officer on the state Board of Directors of the Colorado State Federation of Women’s Clubs – the influential state organization primarily led by white women.

In her early twenties, Elizabeth took the opportunity to travel to Europe. While there, she continued her studies in Switzerland and Germany. When she returned, she began her work as a teacher and helped start a circulating library in Boston. It was around this time that she met a fellow teacher named Newell H. Ensley. Ensley had been born into slavery and was owned by his own grandfather, but he had been taught to read and write at a young age and devoted himself to education.
Elizabeth and Newell were married in 1882. For a time, they taught at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1887, they moved to Denver and settled into a home at 1931 Curtis Street. Sadly, during the next year, Newell and the couple’s third child died within a few months of each other. Being a single parent would not be easy for a woman in the 1800s, but that would not stop Elizabeth Ensley.

While raising her children on her own, Elizabeth became even more active in civil rights. She began working for the Colorado Equal Suffrage Association, which sought to gain women the right to vote. She also served as a correspondent for the journal of the National Association of Colored Women, writing articles about the struggle for progress in Colorado. In 1893, Colorado became the first state to recognize the right of women to vote after a statewide election. It was supported by the governor, Davis Waite, as well.

Civil rights groups such as these and others remained very important. Even with the vote, women had little representation in political bodies such as the General Assembly. Many women across the country also continued to be denied the right to vote. And while there were national organizations fighting for women’s suffrage, African American women were not given much voice within these organizations.
In 1904, Elizabeth founded the Association of Colored Women’s Clubs. This was an attempt to unite various organizations around Colorado, push for greater equality, and provide educational opportunities. Part of Elizabeth’s work included gaining the support of black men on issues like national women’s suffrage. She even helped unite men and women of all races to elect Colorado’s first black legislator, Joseph Stuart.

Elizabeth’s work earned her a great deal of respect around the state and she was eventually made treasurer of the Colorado Federation of Women’s Clubs. This was a mostly white organization and it was very rare for a woman of color to be granted such a position within it.

Throughout the first two decades of the 20th century, Elizabeth continued serving the community. This included serving as secretary of the Lincoln-Douglass Sanitarium Association, which administered care and treatment to the many people suffering from tuberculosis. Elizabeth died on February 23, 1919, while living in Arvada, Colorado. She was laid to rest at Riverside Cemetery, but her work and her memory continue on in society’s constant fight for justice and equality.