Emily Griffith

(b. Cincinnati, Ohio, 1868 - d. Pinecliffe, Co. 1947; b. Fairmount Cemetery)

In 1947, the most celebrated of Colorado’s many superb teachers was found shot to death at her summer cabin in Pinecliffe. This still- unsolved case may have been a suicide pact between the 79-year-old teacher, her retarded sister and their caretaker. Despite doubts about her death, no doubts shadow Emily K. Griffith’s contributions to Colorado. This tiny, mild-mannered lady made a huge difference. At a time when many Americans joined organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan to persecute poor immigrants, Emily came up with a radical alternative—she offered the newcomers a free public education to help them learn English and job skills. As a teenager, the blue-eyed, auburn-haired maiden began teaching in a sod schoolhouse in Broken Bow, Nebraska. After moving to Denver in 1895, she worked in the 24th St. School in Five Points.

Miss Griffith became convinced that adults needed education as much as their children. She dreamed of making Denver the first city in the world with free universal adult education. Her dream came true in 1916, when the Denver Public Schools converted Longfellow School to Opportunity School. This adult education center at 14th and Welton Sts. has evolved into a block-long complex of the Emily Griffith Opportunity School (EGOS)—as it was renamed, despite her protest when she retired in 1933. Since 1916, the EGOS has educated more than two million people. Natives and immigrants alike have learned to read, write and speak English and been trained with marketable job skills.

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