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</style><table class="infobox vcard"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size: 100%;"><div class="fn" style="font-size:125%;">Benjamin F. Stapleton</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><div class="infobox-caption" style="line-height:normal;padding-top:0.2em;">Stapleton, circa 1930</div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122; background:lavender;line-height:normal;padding:0.2em;">33rd and 35th <a href="Mayor_of_Denver" class="mw-redirect" title="Mayor of Denver">Mayor of Denver</a></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data" style="border-bottom:none"><span class="nowrap"><b>In office</b></span><br>1935–1947</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:left"><span class="nowrap">Preceded by</span></th><td class="infobox-data">George D. Begole</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:left"><span class="nowrap">Succeeded by</span></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="J._Quigg_Newton" title="J. Quigg Newton">J. Quigg Newton</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data" style="border-bottom:none"><span class="nowrap"><b>In office</b></span><br>1923–1931</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:left"><span class="nowrap">Preceded by</span></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Dewey_C._Bailey" title="Dewey C. Bailey">Dewey C. Bailey</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:left"><span class="nowrap">Succeeded by</span></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="George_D._Begole" title="George D. Begole">George D. Begole</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122; background:lavender;line-height:normal;padding:0.2em;">Colorado State Auditor</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data" style="border-bottom:none"><span class="nowrap"><b>In office</b></span><br>1933–1935</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:left"><span class="nowrap">Preceded by</span></th><td class="infobox-data">William D. MacGinnis</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="text-align:left"><span class="nowrap">Succeeded by</span></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Homer_Bedford" title="Homer Bedford">Homer Bedford</a></td></tr><tr style="display:none"><td colspan="2">

</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122; background:lavender">Personal details</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Born</th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display:inline" class="nickname">Benjamin Franklin Stapleton</div><br><span style="display:none">(<span class="bday">1869-11-12</span>)</span>November 12, 1869<br><a href="Paintsville%2C_Kentucky" title="Paintsville, Kentucky">Paintsville, Kentucky</a>, U.S.</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Died</th><td class="infobox-data">May 23, 1950<span style="display:none">(1950-05-23)</span> (aged 80)<br><a href="Denver%2C_Colorado" class="mw-redirect" title="Denver, Colorado">Denver, Colorado</a>, U.S.</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Political party</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Democratic_Party_(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)">Democratic</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Spouse</th><td class="infobox-data">Mabel Freeland</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Children</th><td class="infobox-data">Lois Jane and Benjamin, Jr.</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122; background:lavender">Military service</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Allegiance</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="flagicon nowrap"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span></span></span> </span><a href="United_States" title="United States">United States</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Branch/service</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span></span></span> </span><a href="United_States_Army" title="United States Army">United States Army</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Battles/wars</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Spanish%E2%80%93American_War" title="Spanish–American War">Spanish–American War</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-below" style="border-top: 1px solid right;"><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>

<p><b>Benjamin Franklin Stapleton</b> (November 12, 1869 – May 23, 1950) was the <a href="Mayor_of_Denver%2C_Colorado" class="mw-redirect" title="Mayor of Denver, Colorado">mayor of Denver, Colorado</a>, for two periods (comprising five terms), the first from 1923 to 1931 and the second from 1935 to 1947. He also served as the <a href="Democratic_Party_(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)">Democratic</a> Colorado <a href="State_Auditor" class="mw-redirect" title="State Auditor">State Auditor</a> from 1933 to 1935 and was a member of the <a href="Ku_Klux_Klan" title="Ku Klux Klan">Ku Klux Klan</a>.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Early_years">Early years</h2></div>

<p>Stapleton was born November 12, 1869, in <a href="Paintsville%2C_Kentucky" title="Paintsville, Kentucky">Paintsville, Kentucky</a>, son of Elizabeth Jane Newman (1851–1927) and Samuel Stapleton (1847–1911). He attended <a href="National_Normal_University" title="National Normal University">National Normal University</a> in <a href="Lebanon%2C_Ohio" title="Lebanon, Ohio">Lebanon, Ohio</a>, graduating with a law degree. Early in the 1890s, Stapleton went to live in Denver, and in 1899, he was admitted to the Colorado Bar.<sup id="cite_ref-dpl_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dpl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>On June 21, 1917, Stapleton married Mabel Freeland, with whom he had 2 children, Lois Jane and Benjamin, Junior.<sup id="cite_ref-dpl_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dpl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Stapleton enlisted for service in the <a href="Spanish%E2%80%93American_War" title="Spanish–American War">Spanish–American War</a>. He served with the First Colorado Regiment, Company 1, Colorado Volunteers Infantry in the <a href="Philippine_Islands" class="mw-redirect" title="Philippine Islands">Philippine Islands</a>, rising to the rank of <a href="First_sergeant" title="First sergeant">first sergeant</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-dpl_1-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dpl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>At the conclusion of his war-time service, Stapleton returned to Denver to practice law and first became actively interested in politics, helping found the <a href="Veterans_of_Foreign_Wars" title="Veterans of Foreign Wars">Veterans of Foreign Wars</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-dpl_1-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dpl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Stapleton later became a member of the <a href="Ku_Klux_Klan" title="Ku Klux Klan">Ku Klux Klan</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Political_career">Political career</h2></div>

<p>Stapleton's political career began in 1904 as police magistrate, where he remained until 1915, when President <a href="Woodrow_Wilson" title="Woodrow Wilson">Woodrow Wilson</a> appointed him <a href="Postmaster" title="Postmaster">postmaster</a>. During his appointment, he oversaw the completion of the Denver Post Office building.

</p><p>As chronicled by <a href="Robert_Alan_Goldberg" title="Robert Alan Goldberg">Robert Alan Goldberg</a> in his book <i>Hooded Empire : The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado</i>, Stapleton was the Klan candidate for mayor of Denver in 1923 and won the election with Klan support. When Stapleton declared his candidacy for mayor in March 1923, he was Klan member number 1,128 and a close friend of the Colorado Klan Grand Dragon, <a href="John_Galen_Locke" title="John Galen Locke">John Galen Locke</a>. Rumors of Stapleton's Klan membership circulated during the mayoral campaign. Stapleton responded by denying that he was a Klan member and condemning the Klan, "to appease his Jewish and Catholic supporters."<sup id="cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-HoodedEmpire-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 30">: 30 </span></sup> Stapleton declared, "True Americanism needs no mask or disguise. Any attempt to stir up racial prejudices or religious intolerance is contrary to our constitution and is therefore un-American."<sup id="cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-HoodedEmpire-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The voters believed Stapleton's denial and he was elected, defeating an unpopular incumbent, <a href="Dewey_Bailey" class="mw-redirect" title="Dewey Bailey">Dewey Bailey</a>. Stapleton then appointed fellow Klansmen to multiple positions in Denver government, though he initially resisted Klan pressure to appoint a Klansman as chief of police.

</p><p>An anti-Stapleton backlash developed due to the Klan's infiltration of Denver government. The anti-Stapleton coalition began the process of petitioning for a recall election. Stapleton knew that to survive the recall he would need Klan support. He capitulated to the Klan demand that he appoint a Klansman as police chief, with the result that the police department became in effect a Klan organization. This galvanized the anti-Stapleton forces and they succeeded in forcing a recall election of Stapleton in August 1924.<sup id="cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-HoodedEmpire-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 32–33">: 32–33 </span></sup>

</p><p>According to Goldberg's description of the recall election, "[t]he Klan dominated the Stapleton campaign, contributing more than $15,000 and scores of election workers."<sup id="cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-HoodedEmpire-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 34">: 34 </span></sup> "On July 14, 1924, Mayor Stapleton addressed a Klan gathering on South Table Mountain and reaffirmed his commitment: 'I have little to say, except that I will work with the Klan and for the Klan in the coming election, heart and soul. And if I am reelected, I shall give the Klan the kind of administration it wants.'"<sup id="cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-HoodedEmpire-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 34">: 34 </span></sup> The anti-Stapleton coalition had run a poor candidate against Stapleton in the recall election (Dewey Bailey, the incumbent mayor Stapleton defeated in 1923), and Stapleton won the recall election by a landslide. On the night of the election, Denver Klansmen burned crosses on South Table Mountain to signify their victory.

</p><p>Cracks in the Klan's stranglehold on Denver began appearing early in 1925. Stapleton ordered the Good Friday vice raids on April 10, 1925, bypassing the Klan police chief he had appointed under pressure from KKK leaders. The raid rounded up over 200 bootleggers, prostitutes, and gamblers and exposed a dozen Klan members who had been serving in the police force, who were ultimately dismissed. On June 30, 1925, Colorado Klansmen voted to banish Stapleton, Senator <a href="Rice_Means" class="mw-redirect" title="Rice Means">Rice Means</a>, Secretary of State Carl S. Milliken and six other members of the mayor's city hall faction from the Klan in a statement of loyalty to Grand Dragon Locke, who was under fire from national Klan forces. Locke, however, remained in power, but two weeks later, Stapleton declared his independence from Locke and the Colorado Klan by firing the Klan police chief, Candlish, whom he had appointed earlier in his term to appease them.<sup id="cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-HoodedEmpire-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>In 1932, Stapleton won election to the post of <a href="State_auditor" title="State auditor">state auditor</a>. Unsatisfied, Stapleton decided in 1935 to campaign again for election as for mayor, winning in that year and also in 1939 and 1943.<sup id="cite_ref-dpl_1-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dpl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Projects">Projects</h2></div>

<p>Stapleton was responsible for many civic improvements during his five terms as mayor of Denver. Most projects attributed to Stapleton were during his third term as mayor when he had access to funds and manpower from the <a href="New_Deal" title="New Deal">New Deal</a>. During this time, he saw through the creation of the <a href="Civic_Center%2C_Denver" class="mw-redirect" title="Civic Center, Denver">Denver Civic Center</a> and the <a href="Denver_Municipal_Airport" class="mw-redirect" title="Denver Municipal Airport">Denver Municipal Airport</a>, and the considerable expansion of <a href="Denver_Mountain_Parks" title="Denver Mountain Parks">Denver Mountain Parks system</a>, including the <a href="Red_Rocks_Amphitheatre" title="Red Rocks Amphitheatre">Amphitheatre</a> at <a href="Red_Rocks_Park" title="Red Rocks Park">Red Rocks Park</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-tjn_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-tjn-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Denver_Municipal_Airport">Denver Municipal Airport</h3></div>

<p>The construction of Denver Municipal Airport was begun in early 1929 and completed that same year. Its grand opening celebration took place over four days from October 17–20 – a week before the <a href="Stock_market_crash" title="Stock market crash">stock market crashed</a>. It was widely viewed at the time as a huge <a href="Boondoggle" title="Boondoggle">boondoggle</a>. Stapleton was excoriated as either corrupt or incompetent, or both, for having the taxpayers subsidize a mere plaything of the wealthy; what the <i><a href="Denver_Post" class="mw-redirect" title="Denver Post">Denver Post</a></i> sneeringly dubbed "Stapleton's Folly", and others jokingly called "Rattlesnake Hollow". It was viewed by some as too far from civilization to be practicable. The close relationship Stapleton seemed to have with land-owning political backers who stood to benefit, conspicuous among them H. Brown Canon of Windsor Farm Dairy, were a factor in his loss in the 1931 mayoral election to <a href="George_D._Begole" title="George D. Begole">George D. Begole</a>. The airport was later renamed <a href="Stapleton_International_Airport" title="Stapleton International Airport">Stapleton International Airport</a> on August 25, 1944, in his honor. Today, the airport no longer exists, replaced by a neighborhood, which was named Stapleton. After two previous attempts, the name of the neighborhood was changed to <a href="Central_Park%2C_Denver" title="Central Park, Denver">Central Park</a> amid increasing political and racial pressure on August 1, 2020,<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> due to Stapleton's adherence to white supremacy and controversial membership in the Ku Klux Klan.<sup id="cite_ref-dpl_1-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dpl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-tjn_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-tjn-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Red_Rocks_Amphitheatre">Red Rocks Amphitheatre</h3></div>

<p>In 1935, Stapleton appointed George Cranmer, a wealthy former <a href="Stockbroker" title="Stockbroker">stockbroker</a>, as manager of Improvements and Parks. Cranmer had luckily pulled his assets out of the stock market a year before the crash of 1929. The two, as it turned out, had completely different visions for what to do with a particularly striking locale at Red Rocks Park.<sup id="cite_ref-tjn_4-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-tjn-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Some time before his appointment, while Cranmer pondered a <a href="Boulder" title="Boulder">boulder</a> field that was surmounted by large projecting rocks on either side, his thoughts drifted to a memory of something he had once seen while on tour in <a href="Sicily" title="Sicily">Sicily</a>: an ancient Greek open-air theater with stone <a href="Stadium_seating" class="mw-redirect" title="Stadium seating">seating</a>. He began to envision something similar, yet unique, for this location.<sup id="cite_ref-tjn_4-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-tjn-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Whereas Cranmer dreamed of clearing a starry-skied stage, Stapleton saw the boulders strewn there as the members of a naturally formed, one-of-a-kind '<a href="Rock_garden" title="Rock garden">rock garden</a>', and wanted them preserved.<sup id="cite_ref-tjn_4-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-tjn-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Unbeknownst to Stapleton, Cranmer was attempting to persuade the <a href="Civilian_Conservation_Corps" title="Civilian Conservation Corps">Civilian Conservation Corps</a> (CCC) to quietly go ahead with plans to demolish the rocks with <a href="Dynamite" title="Dynamite">dynamite</a>. He was successful in this, and the rocks were razed. With Stapleton's rock garden removed, the process began of hiring <a href="Architect" title="Architect">architects</a> to design and oversee the eventual building of the <a href="Red_Rocks_Amphitheatre" title="Red Rocks Amphitheatre">Red Rocks Amphitheatre</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-tjn_4-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-tjn-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Other projects during Stapleton's tenure as mayor include Denver's water system and the <a href="Valley_Highway" class="mw-redirect" title="Valley Highway">Valley Highway</a> project.<sup id="cite_ref-dpl_1-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dpl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="After_politics">After politics</h2></div>

<p>Stapleton's career in politics ended when he lost his 1947 mayoral re-election bid to <a href="J._Quigg_Newton" title="J. Quigg Newton">J. Quigg Newton</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-dpl_1-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dpl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Stapleton died on May 23, 1950, at his home in Denver.<sup id="cite_ref-dpl_1-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dpl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> He is the great-grandfather of <a href="Walker_Stapleton" title="Walker Stapleton">Walker Stapleton</a>, who was elected Colorado Treasurer in 2010, and the grandfather of <a href="Craig_Roberts_Stapleton" title="Craig Roberts Stapleton">Craig Roberts Stapleton</a>, former U.S. ambassador to France and the Czech Republic.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Controversy">Controversy</h2></div>

<p>In early 2018, Stapleton's great-grandson, <a href="Walker_Stapleton" title="Walker Stapleton">Walker Stapleton</a>, a candidate for governor of Colorado, was accused of paying off the <a href="History_Colorado_Center" title="History Colorado Center">History Colorado Center</a> to remove mention of the family's ties with the <a href="White_supremacy" title="White supremacy">white supremacy</a> movement and the beginnings of the <a href="Ku_Klux_Klan" title="Ku Klux Klan">Ku Klux Klan</a> in America from their exhibitions.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>In June 2020, in the period after the <a href="Murder_of_George_Floyd" title="Murder of George Floyd">murder of George Floyd</a> the Stapleton Master Community Association (MCA) voted to <a href="List_of_monuments_and_memorials_removed_during_the_George_Floyd_protests" title="List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests">rename</a> the neighborhood of <a href="Stapleton%2C_Denver" class="mw-redirect" title="Stapleton, Denver">Stapleton, Denver</a> because of his links to white supremacy and the KKK. The neighborhood has since been voted to be renamed Central Park, after its largest green space. The name garnered 63% of the final vote, beating the other finalist, Skyview.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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</style><cite id="CITEREFCompilers:_Cynthia_Rand,_Ann_Brown;_Proj._Mngr.:_Ellen_Zazzarino2002" class="citation web cs1">Compilers: Cynthia Rand, Ann Brown; Proj. Mngr.: Ellen Zazzarino (January 2002). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200423004952/http://eadsrv.denverlibrary.org/sdx/pl/doc-tdm.xsp?id=WH383_d0e32&fmt=text&base=fa">"Benjamin Stapleton Papers"</a>. <i>Western History Collection</i>. <a href="Denver_Public_Library" title="Denver Public Library">Denver Public Library</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://eadsrv.denverlibrary.org/sdx/pl/doc-tdm.xsp?id=WH383_d0e32&fmt=text&base=fa">the original</a> on April 23, 2020<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">February 26,</span> 2014</span>.</cite><span class="cs1-maint citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{cite web}}</code>: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)</span></span>

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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.denverpost.com/2021/06/06/denver-kkk-history/">"The KKK ruled Denver a century ago. Here's how the hate group's legacy is still being felt in 2021"</a>. <i>The Denver Post</i>. 2021-06-06<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2021-06-06</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-HoodedEmpire-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-HoodedEmpire_3-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Goldberg, Robert Alan. (1981). <i>Hooded Empire : The Ku Klux Klan in Colorado</i>. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-tjn-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-tjn_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-tjn_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-tjn_4-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-tjn_4-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-tjn_4-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-tjn_4-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFThomas_J._Noel" class="citation web cs1">Thomas J. Noel. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091231053507/http://www.denvergov.org/AboutDenver/history_narrative_9.asp">"<b>Mile High City - 7. Denver's ups and downs</b>"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.denvergov.org/AboutDenver/history_narrative_7.asp">the original</a> on December 31, 2009<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 21,</span> 2009</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation news cs1 cs1-prop-unfit"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20191202013736/http://www.blacklivesmatter5280.com/stapleton/">"Stapleton"</a>. <i>Black Lives Matter 5280</i>. 2015-12-14. Archived from the original on 2019-12-02<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2018-01-09</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.9news.com/article/news/local/renewed-push-to-change-stapletons-name-due-to-its-kkk-ties/464725470">"Renewed push to change Stapleton's name due to its KKK ties"</a>. <i>KUSA</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2018-01-09</span></span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFSchmidt2018" class="citation web cs1">Schmidt, Madeleine (April 5, 2018). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2018/04/stapleton-kkk-past-paying-off-history-museum/8585/">"Stapleton Accused of Paying Off History Museum to Remove Family's KKK Past From Exhibit"</a>. <i>Colorado Times Recorder</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 3,</span> 2018</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFGonzales1999" class="citation news cs1">Gonzales, Manny (November 23, 1999). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090608122916/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/millennium/1123mile.shtml">"Racist Group Dominated Politics in Early 1920s"</a>. <i>Denver Rocky Mountain News</i>. Denver, CO. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/millennium/1123mile.shtml">the original</a> on June 8, 2009<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 9,</span> 2014</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFBowden2020" class="citation web cs1">Bowden, John (2020-06-17). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/503259-community-delegates-vote-to-rename-denver-neighborhood-named-after-kkk">"Community delegates vote to rename Denver neighborhood named after KKK member"</a>. <i><a href="The_Hill_(newspaper)" title="The Hill (newspaper)">The Hill</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2020-06-23</span></span>.</cite></span>

</li>

</ol></div></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

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<ul><li>Some photographs related to Stapleton can be found at the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090519072139/http://history.denverlibrary.org/images/index.html"><b>Western History Photograph Collection</b> of the Denver Public Library</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.historycolorado.org/kkkledgers"><b>Ku Klux Klan Membership Ledgers</b></a>, from History Colorado, which includes <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Aa5f78e2a-bddf-4492-b0ea-682988b4510c#pageNum=33"><b>Stapleton's membership record</b></a>, in Book 2, page 33.</li></ul>

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</style><div id="Mayors_of_Denver,_Colorado66" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="List_of_mayors_of_Denver" title="List of mayors of Denver">Mayors of</a> <a href="Denver" title="Denver">Denver, Colorado</a></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="John_C._Moore_(Denver_mayor)" title="John C. Moore (Denver mayor)">Moore</a></li>

<li><a href="Amos_Steck" title="Amos Steck">Steck</a></li>

<li><a href="Hiram_J._Brendlinger" title="Hiram J. Brendlinger">Brendlinger</a></li>

<li><a href="George_T._Clark" title="George T. Clark">Clark</a></li>

<li><a href="Milton_DeLano" title="Milton DeLano">DeLano</a></li>

<li><a href="William_M._Clayton" title="William M. Clayton">Clayton</a></li>

<li><a href="Baxter_B._Stiles" title="Baxter B. Stiles">Stiles</a></li>

<li><a href="John_Harper_(mayor)" title="John Harper (mayor)">Harper</a></li>

<li><a href="Joseph_E._Bates" title="Joseph E. Bates">Bates</a></li>

<li><a href="William_J._Barker_(Denver_mayor)" title="William J. Barker (Denver mayor)">Barker</a></li>

<li><a href="R._G._Buckingham" title="R. G. Buckingham">Buckingham</a></li>

<li><a href="Baxter_B._Stiles" title="Baxter B. Stiles">Stiles</a></li>

<li><a href="Richard_Sopris" title="Richard Sopris">Sopris</a></li>

<li><a href="Robert_Morris_(Denver_mayor)" title="Robert Morris (Denver mayor)">Morris</a></li>

<li><a href="John_Long_Routt" title="John Long Routt">Routt</a></li>

<li><a href="Joseph_E._Bates" title="Joseph E. Bates">Bates</a></li>

<li><a href="Wolfe_Londoner" title="Wolfe Londoner">Londoner</a></li>

<li><a href="Platt_Rogers" title="Platt Rogers">Rogers</a></li>

<li><a href="Thomas_S._McMurray" title="Thomas S. McMurray">McMurray</a></li>

<li><a href="Henry_V._Johnson" title="Henry V. Johnson">Johnson</a></li>

<li><a href="Robert_R._Wright" title="Robert R. Wright">Wright</a></li>

<li><a href="Robert_W._Speer" title="Robert W. Speer">Speer</a></li>

<li><a href="Henry_J._Arnold" title="Henry J. Arnold">Arnold</a></li>

<li><a href="J._M._Perkins" title="J. M. Perkins">Perkins</a></li>

<li><a href="William_H._Sharpley" title="William H. Sharpley">Sharpley</a></li>

<li><a href="Robert_W._Speer" title="Robert W. Speer">Speer</a></li>

<li><a href="William_Fitz_Randolph_Mills" title="William Fitz Randolph Mills">Mills</a></li>

<li><a href="Dewey_C._Bailey" title="Dewey C. Bailey">Bailey</a></li>

<li><a href="George_D._Begole" title="George D. Begole">Begole</a></li>

<li><a href="J._Quigg_Newton" title="J. Quigg Newton">Newton</a></li>

<li><a href="Will_Nicholson" title="Will Nicholson">Nicholson</a></li>

<li><a href="Richard_Batterton" title="Richard Batterton">Batterton</a></li>

<li><a href="Tom_Currigan" title="Tom Currigan">Currigan</a></li>

<li><a href="William_H._McNichols_Jr." title="William H. McNichols Jr.">McNichols</a></li>

<li><a href="John_Hickenlooper" title="John Hickenlooper">Hickenlooper</a></li>

<li><a href="Bill_Vidal" title="Bill Vidal">Vidal</a></li>

<li><a href="Michael_Hancock_(Colorado_politician)" title="Michael Hancock (Colorado politician)">Hancock</a></li>

<li><a href="Mike_Johnston_(Colorado_politician)" title="Mike Johnston (Colorado politician)">Johnston</a></li></ul>

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This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-07-01" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Benjamin_F._Stapleton&oldid=1298333271">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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