HomeMy WebLinkAbout20220901.tiffOFFICE OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PHONE: 970-400-4200
FAX: 970-336-7233
1150 O STREET
P.O. BOX 758
GREELEY, CO 80632
March 17, 2022
Colorado Congressional Delegation,
The history book for our great nation is full of chapters detailing the struggles and triumphs of individuals working for the
American dream. One chapter makes our collective history more complete and that is the chapter of Dearfield, Colorado.
African American agricultural communities existed in other places throughout the country according to University of Northern
Colorado Africana Professor George Junne, but the unique site of Dearfield presents an opportunity to not only tell its story but
the story of all African American agricultural communities and their contribution to the American narrative; a narrative can be
told through the experience of standing on the Dearfield townsite and observing the original structures that once housed families
and business, and their hopes of prosperity and dreams of self-determination.
The Weld County Board of Commissioners strongly supports the efforts of Representative Ken Buck and Representative Joe
Neguse and the passage of the act to include the Dearfield Homestead into the National Park System and give Dearfield the
attention and honor it deserves in our national history.
The very mission of the National Park System is to "preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the
National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations." We can think of no better
place than Dearfield for inclusion into the National Park System for that very purpose — to preserve a cultural resource to inspire
future generations.
The fields "will be very dear to us." These are the words Dr. Joseph H. P. Westbrook, a Denver physician, proclaimed at an
organizational meeting for a new African American agricultural colony in 1909. That colony, formed in 1910 and named Dearfield
after Westbrook's comment, was the realized dream of Mr. O. T. (Oliver Toussaint) Jackson just as it was for many Americans
in the early 1900s - the dream to work a piece of land of your very own; to build a home and provide for your family; and, perhaps
most of all, to be part of a vibrant self-reliant community.
Please support Dearfield by including this Weld County site in the National Park System and preserve this important chapter in
the history book for America for generations to come.
Sincerely,
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
cott K. James, Chair
Steve Moreno
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erry L. Buck Lori Saine
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3/23 /22
2022-0901
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