2019 Goss St. - Dr. Ruth Cave Flowers

Ruth Lolita Cave Flowers lived in this house at 2019 Goss Street off and on from 1921 until she passed in 1980. She and her sister Dorothy grew up Cripple Creek with their grandmother Minnesota Waters—she went by Minnie—who wanted the girls to get a good education so they moved to Boulder in 1917 when Ruth was 14.

They first rented at 1912 Water Street [now Canyon Boulevard] until this house was built with local labor, including participation by the two girls. Ruth experienced racism in Boulder on her first day in Boulder when she and Dorothy were refused service for ice cream cones. In 1920, when Ruth finished high school, she was denied her diploma because the principal claimed she had not completed a physics assignment that she actually believed she had. However, Ruth was able to get into CU anyway where she paid for her tuition doing what she could to make money: darning socks, taking in laundry and ironing, washing dishes at restaurants—you name it.

Ruth graduated in 1924 with a degree in romance languages but was unable to obtain a teaching job in Boulder so off she went to South Carolina, coming back to CU in the summer to earn her masters degree in 1930. Later she earned degrees from the Universite de Poitiers in Tours, France [and while there journeyed to Berlin to watch Jesse Owens in the Olympics], a juris doctor from Howard University, and a PhD from the Catholic University of America—not too shabby for someone who could not get her high school diploma in Boulder!

She was married for a while to fellow attorney Harold Flowers whom she met in law school and was blessed with one son Harold Jr—“Sonny”—who became president of the Colorado Bar Association. Ruth ended her career living here at 2019 Goss—the third photo above is a photo of her at that time-- and teaching at Fairview High School where she was finally awarded an honorary high school diploma. [Notice from the photos how the original two windows were eliminated for one larger window.] And her house was designated a local landmark in 1992.

Directions to Stop 6: Cross Goss Street to the south side of the street and walk to the southeast corner of 20th and Goss streets.