Jessie Whaley Maxwell

In 1998, Maxwell was inducted to the Blacks in Colorado Hall of Fame.

In 1980, Maxwell received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from University of Denver.

As early as 1972, Juanita Gray spoke for a group of Denver residents to suggest naming a new Denver elementary school for Maxwell. In 1998, Jessie Whaley Maxwell Elementary School was dedicated to her in Montbello. The Denver school board waived the requirement that sites can only be named posthumously.

In 1966 she became Principal of Columbine elementary school, where she stayed until her retirement in 1972.

In 1955, Maxwell was appointed as Principal at Whittier elementary school. She was the first African-American school principal in the Denver Public Schools. At that time, teachers did not apply to be principal but they had to be nominated. The Black community leaders in Denver called for Maxwell to get the job. The community she served was mostly white and Jewish, and the student body was 2/3 white and 1/3 Black.

From 1942 to 1975, she served as teacher and administrator in Denver Public Schools, and was an instructor at the University of Denver and Regis College. She began her teaching career in 1942 as a permanent substitute teacher at Whittier Elementary, then became a full-time music teacher. She was one of the first Black teachers in Denver.

During her time at Bishop College, Maxwell joined the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. In 1939, Maxwell, Mae Adams, and Elaine Brown Jenkins formed the Beta Phi Chapter in Denver. Maxwell was elected as the first Treasurer.

Jessie Whaley Maxwell (1909 – 2002) was an American educator who was the first African-American school principal in the Denver Public School system and the state of Colorado.

Jessie Whaley was born on October 9, 1909 in Mansfield, Louisiana to parents John and Julia Carter Whaley.