Colorado science teacher-turned-mayor served Fairplay and made history

Her political career was unexpected: a science teacher turned mayor.  Ada Belle Evans was Colorado's first elected Black mayor.

Winning 65 votes back in April 1974, beating the incumbent mayor by 20 votes.

Mayor Evans served tiny Fairplay, Colorado.  

Legend has it the town was given its name to welcome all to this high country valley, where they "play fair."

"She did not set out to be a politician. She was a science teacher," said daughter Rachelle Burrell. "But she saw some things in the community that she wanted to change."

In 1966 Ada Evans landed a job teaching science at Fairplay's middle and high school. 

Her husband Ray had been commuting to Fairplay from Denver, working as the town's music teacher.

"She was really smart, she was a scientist, and she got along very well with people, and that's kind of how she became the mayor, is that she was just very social, and she knew everybody," said Burrell.

Fairplay sent Evans to town hall and as mayor, she spearheaded efforts to get federal matching funds so the town could improve parks and eventually build a rec center. 

She hated the way the roads ruined her shoes -- so she got many of them paved.

"She had a heart for rural communities, and she didn't think that people paid enough attention to rural communities," said Burrell.

The Evans family was the only Black family in Fairplay.

"There was always lots of snow and stuff, and we would go sledding or skiing, and, you know, we could ride our bikes all over town," added Burrell.

"It was a nice growing up. My experience was good all through high school, from kindergarten to high school," daughter Cheri Evans said.

Ada Evans taught every science class in the middle and high school. And she instilled a passion for learning.

"And that's what she taught us, is to always seek, seek to learn," Burrell said.

Evans' impact on Fairplay endures.

"I remember a man telling me, 'Oh, she got us on the map.' I think she did a lot for the community. I think people appreciated it afterward," Cheri Evans said.

The Evans daughters now live in North Carolina.

Mayor Evans eventually retired and joined her daughters out east. She passed away in 2011 at age 78. 

Burrell recalls returning to where the family home once stood, it's now a health center.

"I just broke out crying, because the whole thing was so beautiful that, for one, all of the trees that our father planted were still there," said Burrell. "So for this, the property that they lived on to become a place for people to heal. It was just very, very fitting."