Emily Griffith Memorial - Denver, CO
Posted by: 
Outspoken1
N 39° 44.394 W 104° 59.335
13S E 500949 N 4398889
Memorial to Emily Griffith, founder of the Opportunity School in Denver
Waymark Code: WMBM73
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 06/01/2011
Views: 5
The engraving reads:
In memory of
EMILY GRIFFITH
Founder of
Denver's Opportunity School
Devoted her
life to her work as an edu-
cator and through her en-
ergy ambition and ability
built one of the greatest
free adult industrial and
vocational schools in the
country-giving both young
and old an opportunity to
learn-develop their char-
acter and become better citizens.
Alfred P. Adamo
"A teacher in Broken Bow, Nebraska, at only 13, Emily Griffith became convinced that the children she taught there and later in Denver’s poorest neighborhoods would never do well until their parents acquired a basic education. In 1915 she appealed to the Denver School Board for permission to open a revolutionary school that would provide a free education to any adult who needed a second chance. September 9, 1916, was the opening day of the world’s first school geared to provide basic adult education and training in marketable skills. Griffith chose the name Opportunity School and hoped that 200 adults would enroll during that first semester. Instead, 2,389 signed up for classes. The school was later renamed the Emily Griffith Opportunity School, and Emily’s concept became world-renowned and much emulated." (from (
visit link)
She is also memorialized in a stained glass window in Colorado's State Capitol building (photo uploaded).