One of the most devastating depressions that impacted the world was the 1893 crash. One of the causes for this was a result of The Sherman Act of 1893 which switched the U.S. from the silver standard to the gold standard. Many who lived in Denver and across the state were left penniless and sought mining opportunities outside of the state. Unemployment reached as much as 25% and it is said that 15,000 businesses went bankrupt. This led thousands of Coloradans to experience adverse living conditions, leading to many women in high society to start soup kitchens to address hunger and homelessness in the community.
Colorado’s “Silver King and Queen”, Horace and Elizabeth “Baby Doe” Tabor, went from riches to rags losing everything as a result of the crash. Read more from History Colorado: https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2017/horace_a_w_tabor.pdf
- Courtesy of Eilish Brennan
- Coxey’s Army Denver Photo from the Denver Public Library depicting unemployed workers after the crash: https://digital.denverlibrary.org/nodes/view/1038183?keywords=unemployed&type=all&highlights=WyJ1bmVtcGxveWVkIl0%3D&lsk=0530ea34c3e241a531306a4a9b98e15e