Colorado Experience: Fannie Mae Duncan

you [Music] the Cotton Club is a legend in color Springs everyone has a story associated with cotton club Fannie Mae Duncan's life is an amazing journey from the cotton fields of Alabama to the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma to fame and social impact in Colorado Springs there she owned and operated a jazz venue called the Cotton Club where world-class african-american entertainers performed for nearly 30 years the club's motto everybody.welcome challenged the era's de facto segregation anyway was the catalyst for the peaceful integration of color Springs during the very volatile civil rights movement during that time in other cities there was violence and there was bloodshed and they were flaming Molotov cocktails being thrown in streets but here in Colorado Springs Fannie Mae was serving chilled cocktails to people of every ethnicity who would come in because of their racial love with the arts and sit side by side to enjoy the evening and I said all I'm looking for is people in the age and I'm not looking for color Fannie Mae is alliance with local law enforcement generosity to her city and can-do attitude moved mountains she was destined she was destined to be a visionary she was destined to be an entrepreneur she was destined to make history this program was made possible by the history Colorado State Historical fund supporting projects throughout the state to preserve protect and interpret Colorado's architectural and archaeological treasures history Colorado State Historical fund create the future honor the past with support from the Denver Public Library history Colorado and the Colorado Office of Film television and media with additional support from these organizations and viewers like you thank you [Music] enemy dad Ken how in the world do you describe for enemy Duncan she was flamboyant she was good-natured should have great sense of humor she was statuesque she was five foot seven but she always had on very high heels so she was much taller than that when she looked down upon you she's a wonderful human being who never forgot her roots Fannie Mae Duncan achieved a lot in life despite the odds when she was born in 1918 who looked like her worked for other people they didn't employ other people she wasn't supposed to own the real estate that she owned she wasn't supposed to drive the cart and she drove she wasn't supposed to be this Vanguard socially progressive influence in Colorado Springs Fannie Mae of course was the granddaughter of slaves Alabama as you can imagine that long ago trent century was very different than it is now both of Fannie Mae's parents Mattie Lou Branson and Herbert Bragg grew up picking cotton in Alabama they married in 1909 and remained tenant farmers unable to own the land they worked it's a kind of serfdom that was put in place after the Civil War that barely changed the lives of African Americans and kept them impoverished in a ratio of unequal power that they could never escape from probably the family would have remained in Alabama indefinitely as most did but a tragedy occurred it was a very serious racial incident and little boy who was a part of the extended family who was only four years old got into an argument with a white girl there was an argument over a toy but actually ironically belongs the little boy but when he slept her to get it back that was the end of his life for him he was brutally murdered and it was to teach to make a point respect was based on fear in those days the Civil War may have ended but racial violence had not Fannie Mae's parents fled to Oklahoma Herbert went first on foot once safety was assured Maddy followed with their three small children the Bragg family left the deep south Alabama like a lot of other African Americans did in the early 20th century they're fleeing violence they're fleeing terror they're fleeing discrimination and outright racial prejudice and they're moving toward some measure of economic political and social freedom the hope was that they would have a chance in life because it was very clear that in Alabama they were not gonna have that opportunity Oklahoma offered hope and they did find a measure of that as did thousands of other African Americans that were fleeing the South post-civil war coming north and west looking for opportunities and he may was born shortly thereafter on the 5th of July she missed the 4th of July but I one day which she let everybody know it's the first Bragg child born in Oklahoma she had no memories of what was left behind in Alabama she had a fresh start if you will she didn't feel the threat that her older brothers and sisters really had internalized and for the very beginning she was free spirit ultimately there were seven children and Fannie Mae was smack dab in the middle as the fourth but she was definitely the leader of the pack outspoken gregarious inventive a mischief maker she became a great problem solver and her problem-solving skills were as a result of trying to get out of trouble most of the time Oklahoma met mr. Bragg could own land and they had a fruit stand and they they fed their family and they also had enough to sell she was also a great little mathematician she understood numbers and subtraction and addition and what-have-you for the toe she's very young and because she understood math her father let her make change and that was her introduction to the business world and even though they were pretty isolated out on the farm and their mom made their clothes they still had things like doll buggies at Christmas and they had toys to play with and they had peppermint candy in mr. Braddock's pockets when it came back from town her father was very successful even bought a piano he bought a new car and one day when he was out of the road returning from the general store and Luther a storm came up and the roads who were very slick and he lost control of the car had a one car accident and was badly cut to the point that he was bleeding out on the side of the road a Good Samaritan came along and not knowing what to do spirit axle grease into the wound which of course stemmed the bleeding saved his life but only momentarily of course because without adequate medical attention in that era gangrene set in tragically Herbert died at Thanksgiving in 1926 leaving mama Mattie with seven children [Music] the only recollection she would share about her time in Oklahoma were just with her father I think that that was a huge event in her life when her dad died I believe she was like eight years old Fannie Mae is older siblings dropped out of school to support the family Fannie Mae lived with nearby relatives in order to continue her education it was very very difficult for the whole family because as you can imagine they were a very tight-knit family they lived through the Dust Bowl been through the depression a difficult time and without a father almost impossible but hope was on the way in 1929 aunts Fang Harris came to visit from Manitou Springs Colorado she saw Maddie struggling to make ends meet with seven children and extended an opportunity for the eldest Frances that would change the future of the entire Bragg family Frances returned to Manitou Springs with her aunt and worked at Bingo jacks bingo parlor then 4rp Eldridge a mercantile store owner this gave her the opportunity to send money home to mom and the children over a period of two years she didn't spend one cent on herself we were all lonesome front Frances and she was just like a mother to us my mother was there but we had two mothers like she took care of us my mother was working and food I was hollering for and she was lonesome for his kids so she sent back we got the rest of us from home uncle early volunteered his truck and his son Linwood Bragg to drive the family all the way from Guthrie where they were living to Colorado Springs Colorado it was a long trip and of course no place to stay along the way but at long last they could see the mountains of Colorado and eventually Pikes Peak and it's that classic experience that generations of people immigrating West's have had looking at beautiful Pikes Peak and drawing near and near to it well you can imagine seeing the gigantic mountains they'd never seen anything like that before in their lives they were afraid they'd fall down on them and of course they were screaming but once they got closer to the city and saw the trolley cars and saw the gigantic buildings the big hotel that looked like a castle to them we had a population of about thirty to thirty-five thousand people at the time so there's streetcars there are traffic lights there are big buildings there's activity along the street it would have seemed really exciting and filled with opportunity they were so excited but most especially Fannie Mae she found out she was no country girl at heart the city was definitely for her [Music] Konnor Springs is interesting and that it's founded by a savour general who happens to be an abolitionist a hick site Quaker who believes really deeply that all people are equal in the eyes of God one way that William Jackson Palmer brought with him his background of integrity was on the issue of race he was someone who broke with his church's belief in pacifism in order to fight in the Civil War while he was not someone who would celebrate diversity the way that many of us do today he did embrace it for people of his time he modeled it for people of his time but when people come here they bring their cultural biases their prejudices with them racism takes a foothold here just as it does in other places where they could work where they could live was limited not by any kind of Jim Crow law but by custom de facto discrimination but there was also a flourishing african-american community life here that must have felt invigorating for a family like the Brax when they came in the 30s we lived next door to the Spanish people and on one side was black and it was Spanish and month later on the corner was white so we began to all just play together and it was just a different atmosphere Fannie Mae spent her first summer in Colorado Springs washing dishes at a barbecue and handing out soap and towels to tuberculosis patients at the Manitou spa throughout her teenage years she held after-school jobs including waitressing and housekeeping schools in Colorado Springs were integrated and as an organized and popular social butterfly sandy Mae was high school class treasurer it was her basketball prowess that caught the eye of one of her classmates older brothers Edward Roy Duncan was six years older and he already knew he wanted to marry Fannie Mae [Music] she graduated from Kohler Springs High School the first in her family to graduate from high school in 1938 and was disgusted to find it was a high school diploma she could not get a job any better than the one she had already had so she worked again as a domestic or a maid but she's not satisfied she wants more Edie in the meantime pointed out to her that if she would just marry him they would have two incomes to put away and she finally gave in on October 9th 1939 and married ed Duncan and became Fannie Mae Duncan I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to be and what I wanted to do and it was a type that anything I wanted to do was alright with him just just just just do it he didn't try to hold me back that's one thing I appreciate about him he worked with me Edie encouraged Fannie Mae to apply to run the Haven Club a soda fountain for black soldiers at segregated army camp Carson she interviewed and got the job it was a very good job because I was behind the casting and I was on the soda fountain and I learned to make banana splits and just everything on the soda fountain and I read from there and I worked into being when the assistant managers and I loved that she developed tremendous empathy for the military and for people who are willing to give their life in service of their country she did very very well then I decided well if I could make this kind of money for the government I should be able to make it for myself there was a place in town Laconia a service club and they'd had a soda fountain on it it received about I'd say 50 people including the economy and so I told it that this is what I wanted to do and he says well are you gonna do that and he said I said well you can quit the railroad station and then come in and you cook in our weight table she talked to Ed into giving up his job he was now working at a really good job with the pension at the railroad but if anybody didn't cook she needed to cook but she didn't have to pay he said well if that's what you want to do I'll do it they didn't own the building but all the profits would be theirs the only problem she could see was in this case because she would be running a concession she was gonna have to have a business license the beginning Earl Mosley who was the city manager took one look at her 26 year old a woman and black at that decided she did not have the credentials to run a USO concession he turned her down repeatedly but she was far more persistent than he was patient and so he gave in thinking okay I'll just be a trial run she'll make it a couple of weeks maybe a month at best and then I'll be through with her he said well this is what I'm gonna do I'm going to let you have a place on a six-month trial and you can go in and I want to see what you doing in the six months I'll have a report immediate success because the bikes in the city who worked downtown at a place they could go and sit down be treated with respect and dignity and they welcomed before six months I got a livin I thought I was he gonna tell me to get out of here is Delia and he was to congratulate me he said that that he had a whole lot of people to come in and tell what a wonderful job I could do and he said keep the work and forget about what I see it and I'm sorry I should have let you had it a year ago she's the one who'd say let's take the next step and take the next step it's it she had this drive inside of her and she never stopped she also had a lot of family support that helped her with her overhead she had a husband Duncan who was a great handyman I mean they were a great team he could do all the fix-it stuff he didn't have to hire a plumber during after our electrician all she had to do is turn around I whispered to her husband honey I need this fixed and he did it at this point Fannie Mae became pregnant and it would have been a beautiful story to tell but tragically her baby girl Yvonne Dolores died at birth if anime of course was bereft but she handled stress very differently than most people she immersed herself with more visions more ideas more work and then when the opportunity came open to purchase Douglas Hall and the father divine restaurant she jumped at it the building for sale was just across the street from where Fannie Mae and Ed were working envisioning a larger operation one she owned herself Fannie Mae called in a favor she contacted mrs. D Arthur Jones an elderly woman for whom Edie had chauffeured and worked for in the Broadmoor neighborhood she suggested that they go down and ask mrs. D Arthur Jones in the Broadmoor for the money they need it could we ask you what what the total price of the the building of the building was when you voted by $25,000 and were you a little bit afraid yes because I cried a minion many a day because it took all my money you know they opened a cafe and bar Jenkins cafe n bar and tonight it opened you couldn't get into place and I haven't looked back since it was 1946 a world war had ended Fannie Mae was 28 years old and Duncan's cafe and bar was a newfound success in downtown Colorado Springs Fannie Mae and Ed did not stop there on weekends they would go up to Denver's Five Points which is often the Harlem of the West and there were very established and polished businesses there one nightclub in particular the Russ Sounion was the place to be seen in a Cadillac we had one IDI took Fannie Mae you know just as a break from all their hard work edy thought they were sitting there relaxing and enjoying the entertainment not realizing that Fannie Mae was sitting better sizing up the place how it operated the patterns that the waitresses made as they walked through this little Club the way the singers and the vocalists presented themselves Fannie Mae's younger sister Selena was a vocalist eventually singing and touring with Lionel Hampton when Hampton played the Risso nyan Fannie Mae had an idea she realized that they could probably get anybody if she could offer a second gig down here she bought a sign some 20 to 30 feet flamingo pink nan that announced Cotton Club and that there would be two shows nightly and there would be dining in there would be dancing when you walked in through the front door from Colorado Avenue on the right side of the club there was these big beautiful leather red boots and I mean you could sit maybe seven six or seven people in a booth because they were huge the booths were always pulling there the Jazz Band was going but not just anybody she booked what became a Music Hall of Fame [Music] Duke Ellington Count Basie Horace Henderson Fats Domino there's not number of so it's so maybe I can't even think [Music] all of the greats Clayton collars Springs she wanted to rival clubs in Denver Kansas City in New York City it meant that people in Colorado Springs were seeing cutting-edge music that otherwise would have been unavailable she used to have big entertainers from all over the country that came there like Cab Calloway and Flip Wilson got his start there these were black entertainers and they were not welcome and this unusually semi segregated society they were not welcome to entertain at the antlers to the Broadmoor of the major facilities so if you wanted to see these amazing talents the Cotton Club was the only place in town to do that the complaints kept piling up and so dad brew says he was called the chief of police called her in and said he heard she was mixing colors and she couldn't be doing that he said you got white people you got Mexicans you got black people you got everything in the rainbow in there I said I have it he said yes he said you cannot do that here I said you didn't tell me do serve me some black license I said you sure to me as much for my licenses stand at the Manhattan he said yes yeah I say well the color you didn't tell me to check for color and he said no I didn't he said but I tell you you're not gonna have all the white people in then you're not gonna have all these people mixing me we're not mixed I say they're in they're mixing and they happy I said I didn't tell him to come in there they came in on their own he said I tell you what he said you go down there and you tell all those people that's not black did you can't serve him it was quite a session because she spoke up immediately something he was not considered appropriate and he'd never really had that because it's pretty tough time and I said all I'm looking for is people that age and I'm not looking for color so I said that if someone sue me for refusing to serve them because of their color will you stand behind and he angrily told her yes he most certainly would serve only blacks keep it black well she was not only angry as all get-out she stormed out so I said all right thank you sir so and I walked out of the place word of the order for segregation of the Cotton Club traveled like wildfire the police station received so many calls of protests from the club's affluent white clientele that chief Bruce was forced to reverse his decision he said I'm telling you one thing if anybody come in their own character black white blue purple or yellow and Lola's a 21 years old you serve and I was wrong and he said you go and you run the place and I'll help you stay there he said because you're doing a great job and I had no more problem well it was a huge victory the first truly integrated major business in Colorado Springs because of Fannie Mae jackin it certainly isn't known across the nation or in the history books but taking him on ironically for the issue that she wasn't allowed to integrate white people with black people in her own club based on Harlem's Cotton Club where the fanciest white folks from New York City went all the time to hear black musicians [Music] the multi-ethnic waitstaff of the Cotton Club now openly served an integrated clientele this was a first in Colorado Springs history and soldiers returning from deployment who brought foreign wives home also now had a place to go for a night on the town from the segregated south to the dusty plains of Oklahoma to owning the first integrated night club in the city Fannie Mae Duncan took a persistent stand for civil rights her generous spirit grew to echo well beyond Pikes Peak the mountain that had aught of family driving toward hope Fannie Mae would sustain her extraordinary journey for many years to come the soldiers of course had a place where they could be comfortable bringing in their wives from other cultures it was off-limits to soldiers for a time but the reputation was so great they couldn't keep them away you know when you have a place that's off limits that's where everybody wants to go Fort Carson was the cause of me being able to survive the white boys from out there and Chicano rose and everybody else they came in they used to come by the white boys we want to come in and they'd pipian anybody else returning TP and they wasn't sure where they coming across they ran me crazy on the phone calling wanting to come but the one that North they was welcome to make sure that everybody understood that they could come in now that there were no barriers whatsoever so I cleaned out the whole window where I had advertisement that cleans it all out and I went to the Opera and I got a great big sign one of those cardboard signs and I just put over there everybody welcomed and put a big spotlight on and wasn't a thing in the winter but that and the people passing by I could see it and business started booming people of every persuasion were there it was a wonderful place I hop in the place but came a he didn't stop there so she had a barber shop and the beauty shop and added a record shop and gift shops and there was a pool and in the back because teenagers like teenagers did not have a place to go to really enjoy themselves and be entertained but without alcohol she opened the cherry pit barbecue Corsa Lite don't sweat - because I saw a lot of happiness I saw a lot of fun I saw the kids that came in from all over the country and were welcomed in an environment that was not anti anybody and that's what she was she was the first one that really showed me that you got to care about all people I don't care who it was that walked in they were able to come to her sit next to her on the bar converse with her she welcomed everybody and she truly believed in that and it didn't matter what race or color or your stature she welcomed everyone Fannie Mae would sit at the end of the bar and she had these gorgeous knit suits that would have the Fox collar she had the diamond and her hair was always always quarterly she once said that she needed to dress the part she loved designer clothing she went to all the elite clothing stores in town like gray rose and raised dress shop in the Broadmoor Hibbard 's and Giddings she loved big hats colorful clothing gold jewelry furs the more the better and she felt like she had an image to maintain and she did I mean when Fannie Mae duncan walked into a room everybody knew it when she walked into a room you could hear people whisper enemy Duncan's hear anything you know well some people might have been envious of her she had a really open generous heart and I think that people responded to that she had a mansion I am sitting in her mansion forty-four rooms if you count the enclosed porches eight thousand square feet two storeys high grounds that Mama filled with flowers and gardens and vegetables there's a story behind this house right here most people don't realize how difficult it was to simply travel if you were african-american and to even understand from one place to the next what the attitudes might be the city still had the major hotels sticking to their segregated ideas yeah where's hotel was across the street but we weren't able to book into that establishment at that time so it was a hard plate a hard time for when she was bringing in class entertainment and couldn't get them places the state I was so ashamed that I didn't know what to do they they couldn't stay at the Broadmoor they couldn't find a place to stay in town what could they do even these places out small you know they all of this refused so they had to come to Denver Denver had a strong enough black community in five points that there were places for folks to stay Fannie called up chief Bruce who after her first confrontation with the law over segregating her Club had since become an avid supporter I went up to tea booth and I told him what was happening and he says I understand that he says this is a shame he says I just don't know what to do she decided to buy a mansion that she knew was for sale and she was going to convert it into a hostelry boarding house a hotel for those wonderful people and thank goodness she did because Colorado Springs might not have seen them continue to come their historic presences in our community's history not only that all the black entertainers but many dignitaries stayed here one being Medgar Evers he was invited in 1963 a move it was just speak at the Air Force Academy to the black cadets and he stayed an extra day just for Mama's collard greens tragically when he returned home because of his activism and the high profile into society he was murdered it was a terribly distressing situation Fannie Mae because we lost many people we lost dr. Martin Luther King we lost President Kennedy in the aftermath of national tragedy Fannie Mae searched for ways to support her community they began the 400 club their goal was to get 400 individuals who would donate generously and widely and they provided aid to people that were ill or injured or in the hospital for african-americans for for white residents for anyone every Christmas and every Thanksgiving they gave out baskets and you could just see the moon her and her kind of like riding up and down that side of town which was we call the north side giving different families baskets for different holidays instead of complaining about something she did something about it when she saw people in need she stepped forward when she saw something that could be fixed she stepped out and she stepped up she was so generous in an era when redlining was prevalent when African Americans couldn't get loans at banks and they turned to her I have asked for a lot of that money you know what not you know she joked about being dragged Duncan savings-and-loan because she offered small loans and large loans to people who needed it she could always be counted on to support others there's not a family member that I know of they can't did not get touched by her love at some point and you know all of us kids were able to have little jobs doing different things now we're a family owned business so they kind of taught us how it worked she provided employment for an awful lot of my family and she certainly provided employment for my mother who was my sole source of support we lived in her house from the time I was 8 years old so I'd have to say that she was very important to the family not I don't need to me but many others because there are many family members that were under the roof of her various real estate holdings case of my mother every time Fanny bought a new car she gave my mother her old car so the car just kept staying in the family and then when my mother used it up and got the next one from aunt Fanny she passed it on to her brother Cornelius so cars just roll right down the hill and when they all used them up I usually ended up with one of them and then there were many other family members that got money that she was providing for them Fannie Mae Duncan was my father Cornelius Bragg's sister so she was my aunt neither of my parents was really able to be present fully in my life so she kind of just stepped into that role and function does both mom and dad for me education was incredibly important mom she not only encouraged education for me and made it a priority for me she in court cursed everyone who was in her orbit she was always interested in helping people who were trying to do something and if you told her you were trying to get an education she'd go 200 miles to assist you so she knew I was going to Colorado College at that time during the 50s so I used to tin bar clean up in the club and any other activities that she wanted me to perform that I could it didn't interfere with my education I undertook that so I owe a great deal to her as far as helping me get through those very difficult years when students are trying to combine work and finishing an education she did a great deal for me and many many other individuals who were seeking education or people in the business world we know she put at least six students through college paid every year their tuition but a few dozen more she paid a bit at a time or when they came to her in need she gave generously not seeking recognition or anything in return mom was a feminist and all but name I don't think she would ever label herself a feminist but she really believed in some agency I used to stand and watch how she dealt with men in a time when women didn't have a lot of clout with men but things that I heard her say to to vendors when they were trying to force product on her to shut him down and shut him off and sometimes I would cringe but she did it was because she was right I mean she'd listen but believe me the last line was hers and she was fortunate during that era to have the local da to have Chief of Police as friends and they assured that she as an african-american woman would have a successful establishment in the city of Colorado Springs today I don't think I'd see that Colorado Springs police chief Ervin Bruce had reversed his order of segregation at the Cotton Club and went on to become an early supporter of Fannie Mae he used his influence to help her in one case when a local linen service refused to wash the club's towels he told me we don't have a place separate to wash it I said what do you mean wash them he said well we can we don't have no place to wash black tiles I'd say those towels you washing any place around here that help in the kitchen is black he said that's right in it he said but I hate orders from the boss not to serve you I said all right I would have ran out of that place and went down to the jailhouse looking for chief Brooks so he says what I said I have to take my towels home and wash them at night and then I say it's hard on me and I was losing weight because I was working around so he said that's not gonna happen he said you can get him any towels you want many April's you want many caps as you want he says you get over they call him up and he says if you want to stay in business you give her what she asked for I mean now it's an amazing story it only happened here a black female nightclub owner and a police chief working together to make it work it's a signal that things can be different they can be better and they could be more equal police would come in they would do their rounds they would come go out then they may go home and get dressed and come back to the Cotton Club oh it was fun it was fun and the bands were really really good he was a great musician and he would have you laughing but he'd have your rocket warned everybody and I was hired to perform at the Cotton Club three days a week 365 me $75 per week the stage was very small and we had four band members I remember Jimmy Jules would be on the b3 organ Horace Butler would be on lead guitar Mickey white would be on the bass guitar and Jimmy Jones was our drummer and I would have to fit in front of them onto that small stage and let's move around so we had some good times at the Cotton Club I consider Fannie Mae Dunkin yet a modern-day entrepreneur she knew what it took to get people in the door keep people in the door and prevent them from going out the door she had something for everyone so no my cards I always say that one man easy to find and hard to me they were extremely successful and you would think that life would have evened out for them but it because of the easy access to alcohol he had become very very alcoholic he died of alcohol in January of 1955 again life changed dramatically for her she kept my husband's Cadillac up in an enclosure in her yard his first Cadillac in the yard for many many years and as a young person I thought why didn't she get rid of that piece of junk but I think it was a memory of her husband many many family members were brought in to help operate the business and they all deserve an enormous amount of credit for keeping that business open and operating and so successful Fannie Mae's younger sister Selena was a pillar of support along with the extended family the two sisters stuck together to keep the cotton club on track through the late 1960s Clara Springs and other cities across the country are getting rougher the crime rates up buildings are being vacated downtown people are moving to the suburbs and as a result the core of the city the downtown is less attractive it's less vibrant during this decline the city decided that the area where she had our club really was becoming seedy and they didn't want people coming into the city with the antlers and all the important businessmen and the money coming into the city getting the wrong impression so by 1975 eminent domain was just by the city to get rid of the club and tear down the buildings in that area Caro Springs urban renewal effort took out about four blocks of downtown the power of eminent domain is typically used by governments to acquire land for public projects when the two buildings housing Fannie Mae's businesses were torn down by the city the area was rebuilt for commercial business use the city was growing this is what I'm saying they were thinking we were tired of this and we're gonna get rid of this it was a part of her demise and it was systemically done it was just sad and she was sad she was very brokenhearted behind the Urban Renewal I can remember her being down in her spirits because they were literally taking her property away from her she tried to fight it she hired lawyers and eventually she gave in her building was purchased her business was purchased for about a hundred and sixty eight thousand dollars and torn down in 1975 she was very hurt that they took I mean because she got hardly anything out of it those were her words to my mother they did a closing of the Cotton Club people came from Denver to Pueblo people were crying because we had no place to go I remember Fannie Mae coming through and she says I'm sorry you know when she got him evader announced but she just said I'm sorry there was nothing I could do and if Annie Mae lost her ability to earn at that level to pay for a mansion the size and things were very bleak as a family those of us that are closest to are quite bitter about the way that she was treated and mistreated a lady gave so much was always there first to be counted on to give and and make donations to worthy causes not many people really understand the closure of the cotton club was highly traumatic for her I'm I regret that they closed the cotton club down because it was my idea was to pass it down to the family after I'm gone they would still be there to go down to my family this is what I had in mind she was encouraged to open up another business at a different location off of South Hancock she named it after her mother she thought that would bring her good luck but her new endeavor didn't work out really well you know after you close something major something minor will not take over she was always there for whoever needed her unfortunately when things got tough there were very few that were there available to help her when she needed them most part of it may be because of her pride she didn't reach out and ask the other part would be is that some of us just weren't perceptive enough to recognize it she was in need Fannie Mae came to Colorado Springs from the fields of Oklahoma the granddaughter of slaves and the first and her family born outside the south she worked hard to own her own Club only to have everything she had worked for taken away by this time Jamie had lost her sister Selena who had become a beloved singer at the Cotton Club and they'd spent wonderful years together and she lost her brothers ultimately she lost her mother it was just a bleak time Fannie Mae and her adopted daughter Renee moved to Connecticut to live with Salinas unless it was a chance to reset after one year they returned to Colorado we settled in southeast Denver and Fannie Mae the first thing she did she was on a telethon for the United Negro College Fund she was very actively involved in Denver to the point that she could and she gave her talent their services and organizational skills to excelsior a school for troubled girls she helped the girls manage a a little thrift store that they had on the campus and they came in and did shifts and worked with her and and she was able to teach them how to how to run a business in 1993 a play was created about Fannie Mae's life and was performed in Colorado Springs and Denver Fannie Mae worked with instructor K as meal and students to tell her life story it was a beautiful collaboration between an aging woman and young kids realizing that they were making life for somebody else something she done her entire life of course but gradually over time she slowed down she stopped going to her volunteer job and then at the age of 84 she suffered a fall and because of that she required 24-hour care and she remained in care and tell her death on Tuesday September 13 2005 Fannie Mae bragg Duncan died in Denver at the age of 87 the day mom died was probably the worst day of my life you know we all knew that the end was coming but you know it was still quite a shock what it did in her lifetime Fannie Mae was honored by the American business Women's Association posthumously she was inducted into the Colorado women's Hall of Fame the Colorado Springs diversity forum pays tribute to Fannie Mae with a festival in her honor it reflects everybody welcome it reflects about the inclusiveness of our community and that we still continue to move forward I think as new generations come on board new people come into the city you know they may not realize or recognize that this is what made Colorado Springs who it is the fact that we keep talking about her shows that she has left a profound impact on us we need to continue to use her as a model of how we can solve problems and how we can come together how we can be bold a bronze statue of Fannie Mae Duncan is planned for the entrance of the Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts just a stone's throw from where the Cotton Club was torn down in 1975 when they put the statue of baby here every people coming from parts of the country and standing there taking pitches it will see if I'm still around I found to be one of them in the world of history you're always gonna find something or somebody that really honestly intrigues your interest out of oppression came this woman to establish her own Empire within a little small town military town where there were no black establishment whatsoever what a fee there's another piece in there about opening doors opening new doors in society for maybe for everyone maybe for women in particular she certainly did that and when she opened that door there was a sign that said everybody welcome I hope she took solace in the fact that she's a legendary figure in color Springs that she's someone that changed this place for the better left a lasting mark changed the shape of our community the feel of our community the way that we interacted as community members she had a profound impact on the city of color Springs in our entire community that is still remembered [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Rocky Mountain PBS

Views: 44,502

Keywords: Civil Rights, Arts, Jazz, Music, Club, Cotton Club, African American, History, Colorado Springs, Colorado, RMPBS, PBS, Colorado Experience, Fannie Mae Duncan

Id: uVNmLThr7DU

Length: 50min 32sec (3032 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 09 2018