CLARENCE AND FAIRFAX HOLMES PAPERS

The collection contains documents, audio-visual materials and photographs ranging from 1892 to 1980. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs, papers, audiotapes and film reels of the many organizations with which Clarence and Fairfax Holmes were active. Personal, business and family materials are also included. Scrapbooks, correspondence and personal papers provide a glimpse into Denver's African American community from the turn of the twentieth century through the Civil Rights Movement.

The series covers Holmes' professional career as a dentist including business and supply records for his practice. Holmes invested modestly in Denver real estate; a few papers describe his assets and landlord duties. The highlight of the series is the clubs, organizations and events sub-series which show the breadth of professional, church, human service and civil rights organizations to which Holmes devoted much of his life. Correspondence and awards show the devotion and respect he garnered from many Denver communities. The papers reflect his involvement in both local and national organizations.

The papers concerning Holmes' founding and tenure as president of the Cosmopolitan Club of Denver are especially strong, describing the group's pioneering work on such issues as anti-discrimination, interfaith understanding, international cultural awareness and philanthropy.

Personal papers round out the series. The papers illustrate Holmes' involvement in the Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, his Denver City Council campaign, household financial records, and biographical news clippings about Holmes and other people and events that interested him. Memorial service programs and awards are included.

Papers relating to Fairfax Butler Holmes comprise this series. It includes correspondence, certificates and meeting minutes of organizations in which she and Clarence were active together, as well as those to which she herself belonged such as the Needlework Guild of America. Her achievement in helping open a new building for the George Washington Carver Day Nursery is documented, as well as her early career working for the Young Women's Christian Association. The series also contains wedding and divorce papers from her first marriage to A. Christopher Richey and papers her marriage to Clarence Holmes. Family documents relating to her parents, in-laws and children are also included in this series.

The audio-visual series contains 8mm film, reel-to-reel audiotapes, cassette tapes and VHS videotape. The material covers a cross-section of activities important to Holmes, particularly during the 1950s-60s. His involvement with dental as well as philanthropic organizations is documented, as are social, political, sporting and travel interests. Family gatherings, parties and graduations are also represented.

The series includes ephemera and oversize awards and certificates from Fairfax and Clarence Holmes' schooling and civic involvement. A scrapbook compiled by William E. Wise (Clarence Holmes Sr.'s half-brother) and later maintained by Clarence F. Holmes contains mostly newspaper clippings of historical, political and entertainment news topics. Some correspondence, clippings and notes describe Wise's participation in the Philippine-American War at the turn of the twentieth century.

A scrapbook contains memorabilia from Holmes' time at Ebert School and Howard University.

A scrapbook or "friendship book" compiled for Clarence Holmes in 1971 by longtime friends and fellow Cosmopolitan Club members contains personal letters honoring Holmes and his contributions to the Cosmopolitan Club.

Newspaper supplements include a Denver Star issue covering the Convention of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc., showcasing prominent African American citizens of Denver, their businesses and residences.

Ranging from 1892 (Holmes' baby picture) to 1976, photographic prints, slides and negatives comprise this series. Family photographs consist of images of Fairfax and Clarence Holmes, their children, their parents and other relatives. Many group photographs show family members as well as friends. Though specific dates were often lacking, estimates of the decades resulted from consideration of fashions, automobiles and types of film. The same method was used to provide time periods for the large number of images of group meetings. Other categories of photographs included such topics as sports, locations of unidentified group meetings, recognizable celebrities and residences. Graduations and wedding photographs are numerous and remain general categories in the series. It is likely that Holmes attended and photographed these ceremonies when they involved his patients and friends as well as his family. Holmes also photographed many well-known or famous people. Group photographs include such events as the Cheyenne Frontier Days, political rallies, organization conventions and group travel.

The oversize folder contains photographs of Clarence and Fairfax Holmes' 25th wedding anniversary party, an Omega Psi Phi Fraternity dinner meeting in Chicago (Dr. Benjamin E. Mays pictured), a portrait of Henry Richardson and a print of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.