Julia Greeley's Boarding House

The building where Julia Greeley lived while performing her countless charitable acts in Denver.

Julia Greeley, known as Denver’s Angel of Charity, was a former slave from Hannibal, Missouri. After she was freed by Missouri’s Emancipation Act of 1865, she worked serving white families in Missouri, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico, though most of her time was spent in Denver. Julia would give what she did not need to assist poor families in her neighborhood. If her own resources were not adequate, she spent time begging for food, fuel or clothing for those who needed it. Julia conducted most of her charitable work at night to avoid embarrassing those she helped. She was also a member of the Catholic Church and was known for her enthusiastic devotion. She became a member of the Sacred Heart Parish in Denver in 1880 and joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1901 where she was active until her death in 1918. After she passed, because she lived in a boarding house, her body was laid out in a church and hundreds came to pay their respects.