The Justina Ford House and The Black American West Museum

Justina Ford was the first African American woman to become a licensed doctor in Colorado. Justina Ford grew up in Knoxville in Illinois. As a child, she had assisted her mother, whose work nursing other slaves had supported her family. This experience led her to follow a career in medicine, with the support and financial help of her family.

Justina Ford was a pioneering physician who, in 1899, graduated from Hering Medical College. She first practiced in Alabama, but moved to Denver seeking an environment in which she, as an African-American, would have better opportunities to work as a doctor. The rapid westwards expansion meant that Colorado offered opportunities for all sorts of people.

However, when she applied for a license to practice in Colorado, she was told by the clerk that it seemed dishonest to take her money for the license because there were already two strikes against her. Doctor Ford often spoke of these twin barriers to her career, saying that she fought like a tiger to work as a doctor despite being a woman and being colored. She worked in Denver for half a century. She was the only black woman to work as a doctor in Colorado until 1950, two years before she died.

Dr. Ford focused on obstetrics and gynecology and on pediatric medicine. She is believed to have helped to deliver 7000 babies of all races in the course of her career. Dr. Ford, like many African-American doctors at this time, had to struggle against the medical establishment in order to work. She was denied hospital privileges and therefore had to make house calls instead. She was also denied membership of a number of medical societies.

Dr. Ford worked with people of all races and backgrounds. She learned several different languages in order to communicate with her patients. She was known for her generosity in not pursuing payment from patients who could not afford it, and in bringing gifts of coal and food to her poorest patients. After her death, Dr. Ford was recognized as a medical pioneer by the Colorado Medical Society, which was one of the societies that had once denied her membership.

Dr. Ford's office and home, which was originally located on Arapaho Street, was relocated in 1984 to California Street in order to preserve it. A statue dedicated to the memory of Justina Ford stands outside the house, which is now the Black American West Museum.

The house itself is a flat roofed, two story brick building. It features some interesting architectural details, such as the end brackets and the cornicing. Inside the museum, there are a number of interesting and informative exhibits featuring the stories of the Black American West. Some of the most popular exhibits are about the Black cowboys, but there are also exhibits about people who came to the west to work in all types of professions, from miners to ranchers to teachers. Dr. Ford is not forgotten, and the museum also celebrates her career.

Popular parts of the museum include the homestead exhibit showing how pioneers lived in the town of Dearfield, the Cowboy exhibit featuring saddles and spurs, and the military exhibit focusing on the Buffalo Soldiers.