In the 1970s, Denver bank executive M.L. Hanson encouraged a friend’s daughter to write a school report on notable Colorado women. There was just one hitch: The girl’s history textbook didn’t mention any. “If women aren’t even being featured in school, they’re just totally invisible,” Hanson says. “Colorado’s history was incomplete.”
The omission inspired Hanson to found the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in 1985, and the nonprofit inducted 24 women its first year. Since then, 181 more have joined their prestigious ranks. Still, the hall doesn’t have a physical location open to the public. “We get emails all the time from people asking where they can see the hall, and we don’t have a place where you can see portraits of the 205 women of the hall,” says Barb Beckner, current board chair. “I hope it doesn’t take 40 years, but I hope we can negotiate space in the next 40 years to display these women and their accomplishments.”…