Caroline Bancroft
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Caroline Bancroft (1900–1985) was a journalist and performed in the Ziegfeld Follies. She is known for the books and booklets that she wrote about Colorado's history and its pioneers. In 1990, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.


Early life

Bancroft was born in
Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
on September 11, 1900 to an established, "upper crust" family and was a third-generation Coloradan. Her parents were Ethel Force Norton, a socialite from Troy, New York, and George Jarvis Bancroft, a Coloradan who graduated in 1895 from
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
. He was in the school's first graduating class with future president
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
. Dr.
Frederick J. Bancroft Frederick J. Bancroft (May 25, 1834 – January 17, 1903) was a surgeon during the Civil War before he settled in Colorado, where he was considered to be "one of the most prominent physicians", according to a ''San Francisco Chronicle'' obituary. ...
, her grandfather, was a Colorado pioneer and surgeon. In 1879 he was co-founder and first president of the Colorado Historical Society, originally called the State Historical and National History Society of Colorado. He served as president for 17 years. The 13,000 foot Mount Bancroft is named for him, below which is Lake Caroline, which is named for her. George's wealth ebbed and flowed as he explored mining enterprises in Mexico and the western United States. Ethel rented out the second floor of their home at 1081 Downing Street to help support her two daughters, Caroline and Peggy, who was born in 1905. For entertainment, Caroline liked to ride horses that the family kept at a Corona Street livery or at the family's 2,500 acre summer home in Bear Creek Canyon. The ranch and summer home, purchased by Frederick Bancroft, were located between Kittredge and
Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
. In 1923, the buildings were donated to the Evergreen Conference Historic District. She also like to travel to her father's Clover Knoll Farm by Barnum trolley.


Education

Bancroft received her Bachelor of Arts from
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
and attended the
University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
where she attained a master's degree in history. Central City, Colorado was the subject of her master's thesis.


Adulthood and career

Standing six feet tall, she often wore paper flowers in braids that wound on the top of her head. She was friendly and witty to many. She called herself a social historian because she enjoyed being around her friends. Bancroft was known to say, "I'm Caroline. It rhymes with sin, gin, and jasmine. Take your pick." Some found her without humor, sour, and forthright, which meant that she also made enemies. Bancroft worked as a cruise ship teacher and performed in the Ziegfeld Follies. She worked as a journalist for '' The Denver Post''. She published nine booklets on Colorado History that sold nearly a million copies. They captured the "drama and spirit" of Colorado's history, but she may have occasionally taken poetic license in her storytelling. David H. Halaas, a historian for the Colorado Historical Society said "Caroline was—and is—a force in Colorado history." Bancroft was particularly interested in the history of the
Tabor Tabor may refer to: Places Czech Republic * Tábor, a town in the South Bohemian Region ** Tábor District, the surrounding district * Tábor, a village and part of Velké Heraltice in the Moravian-Silesian Region Israel * Mount Tabor, Galilee ...
family, Leadville, and
Central City, Colorado The historic City of Central, commonly known as Central City, is a home rule municipality located in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties, Colorado, United States. Central City is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gilpin County. ...
. Daniel K. Peterson was the photographer and map illustrator for her on the booklet on ghost towns.


Later years

Bancroft suffered three times with tuberculosis, four times from cancer, and was blind for one year–and yet continued to travel. Bancroft died in Denver on October 5, 1985.


Estate and award endowments

In her will, Bancroft left her estate to the Colorado Historical Society and the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library, which awards an annual literary prize in her name "to the author of the best book on Colorado or Western American History". The Denver Public Library's Western History and Genealogy Department makes the annual monetary award, which in 2016 will be a $1,000, and non-monetary honor book awards. Her estate also funds the Caroline Bancroft History Project Award, which is made annually by the Colorado Historical Society, now called History Colorado. It is awarded to "an individual, organization or museum that has contributed to public awareness, interest or involvement in Colorado history, or to its advancement." For example, in 2013 it was awarded to the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association (CRIA) that operates the Chimney Rock National Monument's interpretive program. An oil portrait of Bancroft is in the Denver Public Library, and link to a photograph of her standing in front of the portrait is in the External Links section below.


Publications

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References


External links


Caroline Bancroft interview
about
Baby Doe Tabor Elizabeth McCourt Tabor (September 1854 – March 7, 1935), better known as Baby Doe, was the second wife of Colorado pioneer businessman Horace Tabor. Her rags-to-riches and back to rags again story made her a well-known figure in her own day, ...

Caroline Bancroft History Prize

Photographs of Caroline Bancroft
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bancroft, Caroline 1900 births 1985 deaths Ziegfeld girls
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
American women journalists American women historians 20th-century American historians 20th-century American women writers Writers from Denver The Denver Post people Smith College alumni University of Denver alumni 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American journalists