Cripple Creek in Teller County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr
(1887-1950)
Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, 2025
1. Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr (1887-1950) Marker
Ralph L. Carr was born in Rosita, Colorado. His family later moved to Cripple Creek, where Carr graduated in 1905 from Cripple Creek High School. He went on to earn a law degree, and in 1929 was appointed U.S. Attorney for Colorado. In 1938, Carr was elected Governor of Colorado. He had always supported the rights of minorities and working-class people. And their votes helped him get elected.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an Executive Order authorizing the forced evacuation of people of Japanese, German, and Italian descent into internment camps in a number of states, including Colorado. Governor Carrs public opposition to this removal was not well received. Carr knew that most American families had origins outside the U.S. and that America was indeed a culturally diverse nation. His stand spelled his political ruin.
There is no place here for the man who thinks that his people or those who speak his language are in turn entitled to preference over any others. Governor Ralph Carr, 1942
Erected 2025 by Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Cripple
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Government & Politics • Heroes • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation. series list.
Location. 38° 44.825′ N, 105° 10.333′ W. Marker is in Cripple Creek, Colorado, in Teller County. It is at the intersection of East Bennett Avenue and North Fifth Street when traveling south on East Bennett Avenue. Adjacent to the historical period railroad car by the Cripple Creek Info Center and Cripple Creek District Museum. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 501 E Bennett Avenue, Cripple Creek CO 80813, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Colorado High Rockies and in Pikes Peak Region. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Winfield Scott Stratton
Photographed by Jeanne Gripp, 2025
2. Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr (1887-1950) Marker
Regarding Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr. Governor Carr refused to comply with orders from the Roosevelt administration to create and incarcerate Japanese-Americans as potential enemy aliens and subversives in the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Governor Carr knew what was being demanded of him was wrong and very un-American.
Also see . . .
1. A Time of Unreasoning Hatred.
The governor read the telegram, and his staff nervously noted the warning signs of a major tantrum about to erupt. His face started to turn pink, then red, telltale indications of a mounting fury. The telegram informed Carr that the president had just signed Executive Order 9066, which gave the military a free hand in authorizing security zones along the West Coast. Once these zones were established, the military could bar anyone from entering themand also, more ominously, eject anyone living there without bothering about due process of law.(Submitted on August 13, 2025, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)
2. In Gov. Ralph Carr, Colorado has a shining light in the painful history of Japanese internment.
Colorados governor was the only major political figure to oppose the internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor(Submitted on August 13, 2025, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)
"If you harm them, the Republican said in 1942, you must first harm me.
3. Ralph Carr.
Carr often maintained that the Constitution protected Japanese American citizens like all other citizens and is consequently remembered quite favorably among Japanese Americans in Colorado.(Submitted on August 13, 2025, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)
Credits. This page was last revised on March 18, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 13, 2025, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 194 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on August 13, 2025. 2. submitted on August 13, 2025, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
