The accolades for Charles R. Cousins have cascaded throughout Denver and beyond. A resourceful, disciplined, ingenious and eclectic individual, “Brother” Cousins, as he came to be known, traveled along an uncharted path and his achievements abounded: real estate investor, club owner, entrepreneur, sports aficionado, mentor to youth, philanthropist, world traveler and, lastly, a pillar of the African-American community.

His long and bountiful life parallels and is organically linked to the general growth of Denver’s African-African community and specifically the Five Points area. To walk along the Welton Street corridor – the heart of Five Points – is to walk with Charles Cousins.

The Black American West Museum is located at the northern rim of Five Points at 30th and California St. The building formerly belonged to Dr. Justina Ford, Denver’s first African-American woman physician. Cousins was not born in the house, but Dr. Ford did deliver him at his family’s home. On January 2, 1918, Dr. Ford, a local history maker, brought into the world a baby destined to become another local history maker.

By the time Cousins passed away 91 years later, on May 4, 2009, his legacy was duly noted at the other extreme end of Five Points. The southern plaza of the Blair-Caldwell African-American Research Library bears his name. Inside his portrait hangs in the lobby, and the third floor gallery and museum has been renamed for Charles and Dorothy Cousins.

Former City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth submitted the proposal to name the plaza for the Cousins. “Mr. Cousins and his family have made so many contributions to the Five Points community, and I thought it was important to designate the plaza in his honor,” she said.

Throughout his lifetime, Cousins received approximately two dozen awards and honors from churches, educational institutions, businesses, community and civic groups, professional and athletic organizations, a major city agency and former Mayor Wellington Webb and First Lady Wilma Webb. The current Mayor, John Hickenlooper, spoke at his funeral service.

Charles “Brother” Cousins had humble beginnings; yet he had what his daughter, Dr. Renee Cousins, calls “an extraordinary journey through a long and fulfilling life.”

The Moral and Hard-Working Family
He always emphasized the positive influence of his parents on his personal development.  His father, Charles L. Cousins, was born in Virginia and moved to Atchison, Kansas when he was an infant. He married Alta Craig and the union lasted 60 years. There were six children, the first four being girls. When Charles was born, they called him “Brother,” a denomination which stuck. Their youngest child was also a boy, Craig. 

In 1909 they moved to Denver and elder Cousins began work with the Pullman railroad company, remaining there for 33 years until his retirement. However, he did pursue other interests. He engaged in a variety of construction activities and acquired property. While still in Kansas, he purchased a house at 18 years of age. He sold it when he moved to Denver and purchased a new one.

“When Papa Cousins wasn’t working on the railroad, he sometimes spent time at construction sites watching buildings going up,” said Dr. Renee Cousins, referring to her grandfather. “And other time he made and constructed things himself,” she continued. In his home, Brother Cousins kept a chess table and brass foot stool both constructed by his father many years ago.

“Papa Cousins worked all the time, and seldom seemed to have down time,” she said. “This was the model that my father had. They were both energetic and driven individuals.” She said her father involved all his children in his activities. “My aunts used to tell stories about carrying buckets of cement for my grandfather,” she quipped humorously.    

The elder Cousins also saved his money and began buying property,” said John Mosley, a lifelong friend of Brother Cousins. And he went beyond houses.  In 1931 he built The Arcade in the Five Points area. It was comprised of a beauty shop, a barber shop, a shoeshine stand and a drugstore.

Mosley said that kids in the neighborhood, including Brother Cousins, engaged in moneymaking activities, such as gathering night crawlers in City Park and selling them to fishermen. “And we caught crawdads.  We also sold lemonade at the trolley stops in Five Points and northeast Denver,” he continued.

Mosley also said that Brother Cousins worked as a delivery boy for a drug store, using his bicycle. He also entered several cycling championships and continued to ride most of his life.

At Manual High School Cousins participated on the wrestling team. It was also at Manual where he perceived a need for music at some school social activities. He rigged up a sound system and began charging money for making music available.

After high school graduation he enrolled in a pre-veterinary science program at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. “There were only seven Black students and we had to live in a house off-campus,” said Mosley who was also enrolled in the course of study.

While there, Cousins restarted his business of providing music for campus social activities. However, he decided to quit school. “There were a number of obstacles for Black students in the program,” said Mosley. “And Charles was certain that he could make just as much money doing other things.”

Mosley joined the Air Force during World War II and became one of the renowned Tuskegee Airmen. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.

He took a job with the railroad company and later joined the Fire Department, joining the all-Black crew at the historic Fire Station Number 3 in the Five Points area. He also engaged in other money making activities, such as spraying Christmas trees, and he expanded his music venture into placing jukeboxes in restaurants and bars. In addition, he saved his money and in 1946 became co-owner of the 715 Club on 26th St., right off Welton St. in Five Points. It was his first business and it thrived for many years.

The next year he married Dorothy Caldwell and they shared 53 years together before her death a few years ago. She worked with him in his businesses. Renee Cousins, a pediatrician, is their only child. Cousins continued to buy property and engaged in other businesses such as a car wash and a cookie franchise.

Brother and Dorothy Cousins were known for their lavish outside Christmas decorations of their homes on York Street and later on 26th Avenue. During the holidays their home was featured in several local newspapers. One year they used 500 bulbs and another year 1,000 bulbs. And he liked to dress up as Santa.

He was very involved in sports, such as golf and later cross-country skiing. However, he also had a passion for assisting with other athletic activities. In addition to attending sports events at his alma mater, Manual High School, he set up athletic scholarships for the students and was available to help teams with some of their endeavors. He also helped the sports teams at Colorado State University. He was the first African-American to work with the Colorado Boxing Commission, and at one time was Deputy Boxing Commissioner.  

Cousins attended both the Winter and Summer Olympics from Rome in 1960 to Salt Lake City in 2002. And he insisted on getting to know the athletes. Spectators are not allowed to enter residential spaces of athletes. However, Brother Cousins found a way. 

“He had a stately presence and people assumed that he was someone who had a right to enter the athletes’ quarters,” said Ike Kelly, a friend who often traveled with Cousins. “He was not satisfied just being a spectator, so he found a way to get to talk to the athletes and team associates,” he continued. Kelly often accompanied Cousins and his wife on golfing trips to Hawaii and other venues around the world.

A member of Zion Baptist Church since 1925, Cousins was the oldest congregant at the time of his death. Without fanfare, he made financial contributions to a wide range of institutions and causes.

Cousins lived an active and full life. “He had a zest for life,” said Renee Cousins.

Carl Bourgeois, a real estate developer in Five Points, has great admiration for Charles “Brother” Cousins. Bourgeois points out that Cousins began investing in real estate during the period of segregation.

“Instead of frustration and defeat, he worked on the positive side and was able to accomplish many things,” he said. “He used obstacles as inspiration,” he continued. “We need to encourage that kind of attitude today. There are still obstacles for African-Americans, they are just more subtle.” Bourgeois said that Cousins’ attitude seemed to say, “If America is not working for us, then we’ll have to take another road and find a way to make it work for us.”