Julia Greeley

Greeley was born into slavery in Hannibal, Missouri. At the age of five, her right eye was injured by a slave master as he was whipping her mother. This disfigurement remained with Greeley the rest of her life. She became referred to as "one eyed Julia". In 1865, Greeley was freed during the Civil War under the Emancipation Proclamation. [2]She moved west and became a cook and nanny to Julia Pratte Dickerson of St. Louis who would later marry William Gilpin. When President Abraham Lincoln appointed Gilpin as the first territorial Governor of Colorado, the couple moved to Denver and Greeley joined them.[3]

Greeley was baptized into the Catholic Church in 1880 at Sacred Heart Church in Denver, and became especially devoted to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Holy Eucharist, receiving Holy Communion daily. Despite secretly suffering from painful arthritis, she tirelessly walked the city streets distributing literature from the Sacred Heart League to Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

She became known for her charitable works, pulling a red wagon through the streets of Denver in the dark to bring food, coal, clothing, and groceries to needy families. She made her rounds after dark so as not to embarrass white families ashamed to accept charity from a poor, black woman.[4]

In 1901, Greeley joined the Secular Franciscans and remained an active member for the rest of her life. In recognition of her dedication to the poor, Greeley has been dubbed "Denver's Angel of Charity." In January 2014, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver officially opened an investigation for her sainthood.[5][6]

Greeley is one of the four people that U.S. bishops voted to allow to be investigated for possible sainthood at their fall meeting. She joins four other African Americans placed into consideration in recent years. She is also the first person to be interred in the Denver cathedral since it opened in 1912.[6]

Greeley did not marry and the majority of her time helping others and completing church duties. Years later when the Gilpin's died, Greeley began to do labor work for a number of wealthy white families. With this money she made, she decided to give it all away to people who needed it. She went all around Denver, supplying poor families with needs like clothes and food. One of her major acts of kindness was when she donated her own burial plot for an African American man who passed away. He was going to be laid into a Pauper's grave but Greeley would not let that happen. After this, many people began to call her the "colored angel of charity" because of her kindness. Because of all her dedication to families in poverty, she was officially named "Denver's Angel of Charity".[3]

[7][3][2]

[1]

• Julia Greeley Guild official website
• Former slave Julia Greeley first to be buried at Denver’s Cathedral