Penfield Tate II was a politician, LGBTQ supporter, and Boulder, Colorado’s first African American mayor. Tate was born on June 11, 1931, to Penfield Tate Sr and Vera Jane Houston Tate in New Philadelphia, Ohio. He was the second eldest of ten children. Growing up, Tate worked in steel mills in Ohio and attended segregated schools.
Tate attended Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. While there he played tackle for the Kent State Golden Flashes, the varsity football team. There he earned honors as Kent State’s first all-American football player. Tate graduated with his undergraduate degree in pre-law and political science in 1952. After graduating, Tate joined the U.S. Army as an artillery officer and remained in the service for fourteen years, holding staff and command positions. While serving in the military, Tate studied law and graduated from the University of Colorado’s law school in 1968.
In 1955 Tate married Ellen Mildred Cooper. The couple had four children together, a son named Penfield Tate III and three daughters, Paula Jane Tate, Gail Allyson Tate, and Roslyn Lurye Tate.
Following law school, Tate worked for Mountain Bell as a labor relations specialist and followed by serving as the Human Relations Director at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 1972 Tate opened his law firm, Tate, Olin, and Tate followed in 1977 by another firm with his son, Penfield Tate III called Trimble, Tate, and Nulan. In his career in law, Tate focused on labor and employment law, particularly civil rights discrimination claims in the federal courts. He also has spent time representing and advising businesses on personnel employment issues, government law issues, family law, and litigation matters. Tate was a member of the National Bar Association, the Sam Cary Bar Association, the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, and the Legal Relations Section of the American Bar Association.
Tate entered politics in 1972 and shortly afterward was elected to the Boulder City Council, becoming the first African American on the Council. Tate served on the council from 1972 to 1976. In 1974, Tate was elected the first African American mayor of Boulder, and he served in the position from 1974 to 1976.
Throughout his career in politics Tate was a leading advocate and supporter of the LGBTQ community. In support, Tate introduced an amendment to Boulder’s Human Rights Ordinance known as the “sexual preference” amendment. The amendment proposed prohibiting employers from firing an employee based on sexual orientation. It was rejected by Boulder residents in a landslide. Tate and other Council members who supported the Ordinance also faced backlash from Boulder residents who sought to recall every member who supported the amendment. Tate survived the recall attempt but during the campaign, he would receive death threats and hate mail from protesters opposed to the amendment. Tate’s support for LGBTQ rights would contribute to his failure to win reelection as mayor in 1976.
Tate was a member of the City Housing Authority and the Human Relations Committee in Boulder. He also served on the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority Board of Directors for 15 years. From 1991 to 1993 he was chairman of the Board of Directors of the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball Stadium District.
Penfield Tate II died on October 2, 1993, in Boulder, Colorado at the age of 62.
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“Penfield Tate II,” University of Colorado Boulder, https://www.colorado.edu/law/2023/02/06/penfield-wallace-tate-ii-68; “Penfield Tate II,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6158527/penfield-wallace-tate; “Penfield Tate II,” Boulder Colorado, https://bouldercolorado.gov/locations/penfield-tate-ii-municipal-building.
