05/05/2026
I have fond memories of my grandmother, who was an accomplished registered nurse. That lady had skills. She was a master at calculating my grandfather’s complex Parkinson’s medications. She taught me to sew; I always aspired to scale a pattern smaller or larger as she did. Grandma was also the queen of the church bake sale, scaling pie and cookie recipes to feed multitudes. Given all of Grandma’s impressive math skills, I wondered why she needed my father to help her reconcile her checkbook every month. How could this be so? Then a little voice in the back of my mind reminded me of discussions concerning women’s inability to get credit cards, bank accounts, and loans without a male relative’s involvement.
Colorado women were trailblazers and activists, changing the state and national laws for economic justice. Our first woman Congressional Representative, Pat Schroder, was a key instigator of the passage of the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act—legislation prohibiting discrimination against credit applicants and, consequently, allowed women to open lines of credit without a male co-signer. Also, the Women’s Bank of Denver opened on July 14, 1978—the second of its kind in the nation—to provide banking and financial management education specifically for women.
I invite you to learn more about the ins and outs of women’s (and likely your grandmother’s) banking issues in "Votes and Dreams," the newly installed exhibition at the Center for Colorado Women's History.
—Susan Fries, Director, Center for Colorado Women’s History and Deputy Community Museum Officer
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Images: Mary Helen Treece Strayer (left), Susan’s grandmother, at nursing school graduation in the late 1930s. Courtesy of Susan Fries. Women’s Bank cash pouch. Photo by Act One Photography. History Colorado, IL.2026.6.5
