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purchase a house outside the “ghetto” which paved the way for other
African American families to purchase homes without discrimination. Their experience led to their efforts to end housing segregation and support affordable housing in Boulder. While at CU they mentored African American students who were welcomed into their home. They sought to increase the number of African American faculty and students at a time when there were very few of either on campus.
82:, in 1956. In 1962 she was offered a position with the University of Colorado Libraries helping with an emergency staffing situation. CU asked her to return in the fall of 1962 to work in the library's General Reference and Interlibrary Loans section. She was eventually appointed assistant director for public services, a position she held until her retirement in 1987. She was CU's first African American librarian.
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board. Soon after arriving in town the Nilons tried to buy a house outside of the Goss/Grove area which was
Boulder's “Black ghetto” at the time. Owners changed their minds about selling to the Nilons after their neighbors complained when the Nilons were shown houses. They were finally able to
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The
Charles and Mildred Nilon Teacher Education Scholarship Fund honors the Nilons. It is designated for students who are “committed to advancing educational opportunities in under-resourced schools, especially those that serve African American communities.”
46:. She was the youngest of three children of Lemuel Paul Harper and Fannie Harper. Her father's job as a railroad mail clerk made her family slightly better off than most African American families at the time, which allowed her to attend
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Nilon was active in numerous community organizations, including the United Black Women of
Boulder Valley, the Town and Country YWCA board, the Mental Health board, and the
50:. However, her race and gender limited her career choices. She took a position teaching but did not enjoy it, so she returned to school and obtained a master's degree at
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34:(CU)’s first African American librarian. CU created a scholarship in honor of her and her husband, Charles, who was CU's first African American faculty member.
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189:. Boulder Colorado: Center for Studies of Ethnicity and Race in America, University of Colorado at Boulder. pp. 51–54.
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until her husband, Charles, accepted a job teaching in the
University of Colorado's English department in
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231:"New education scholarship continues the legacy of CU Boulder luminaries, Charles and Mildred Nilon"
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and they married in 1953. They had a son, Charles Nilon, Jr., who graduated from
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Nancy
Mildred Harper (who went by the name Mildred) was born July 26, 1920, in
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A Legacy of
Missing Pieces: The Voices of Black Women of Boulder County
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Mildred Nilon died
September 30, 2017, in Boulder at the age of 97.
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102:. Charles Nilon, Jr., is now a faculty member at the
30:(July 26, 1920 – September 30, 2017) was the
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158:The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
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272:African-American librarians
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210:Boulder Daily Camera
282:American librarians
235:School of Education
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239:. Retrieved
237:. 2017-10-09
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214:. Retrieved
212:. 2016-04-12
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162:. Retrieved
160:. 2016-05-03
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267:2017 deaths
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241:2019-11-06
216:2019-11-06
164:2019-11-06
135:References
100:Atlanta
76:Detroit
72:Alabama
68:Atlanta
86:Family
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