Finding Light

On the third Monday in January each year, most Americans celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are still more who seek to honor his legacy than those who currently defile it.

Over 105 years ago, a Black minister stood up for his rights, taking his case all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court.

It was in January 1918 and Colorado Springs pastor William Lee Darius wanted to get his shoes shined. But the shopkeeper refused to shine the shoes of a Black man. Colorado state law provided that “all persons” were entitled to equal enjoyment of all places of public accommodation. Reverend Darius sued for the maximum penalty allowed by law, $500 (nearly $10,000 today).

The trial court dismissed his case, finding because the first part of the statute enumerated “inns, restaurants, eating houses, barber shops, public conveyances on land or water, [and theaters]” it did not include shoeshine stands. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People backed an appeal. The Colorado Supreme Court reversed, holding that the statute plainly stated the right extended to “all other places of public accommodation and amusement,” and that meant a shoeshine stand, too.

Reverend Darius was born around 1880 in Georgia. In 1920, he resided with his wife Sarah Elizabeth and four-year-old foster daughter in Colorado Springs. By 1934, he and his wife lived in Indiana where he pastored a Methodist Episcopal Church. They later moved to Flemingsburg, Kentucky.

It is hard to find light this month, as we watch our own government assault Minneapolis. But we can find it in the courage of people who stand with their neighbors and drive ICE away. Light comes from a court decision ruling that ICE cannot assault and arrest peaceful protestors.

Collectively, we will persist.

Sources:

“Colorado Supreme Court Sustains Civil Rights Law,” The Colorado Statesman (Denver, Colorado), p. 5, cols. 1-2; imaged, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/image/886475915). All sites visited 19 January 2026.

“Colorado Court Upholds Civil Rights Law,” The Tulsa (Oklahoma) Star, p. 1, col. 6; imaged, Chronicling America (www.loc.gov/resource/sn86064118/1920-06-19/ed-1/).

“N.A.A.C.P. Branches Win Long Civil Rights Fight in [Colorado],” The Star of Zion, p. 1, col. 1; imaged, Digital North Carolina (https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sf88092969/1920-06-17/ed-1).

Darius v. Apostolos, 190 P. 510 (Colo. 1920).

1920 U.S. census, El Paso, Colorado, Colorado Springs, enumeration district (ED) 78, sheet 4A, dwelling 80, family 99, William L. Darius (38); imaged, “1920 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/105468552).

1940 U.S. census, Fayette, Indiana, Connersville, ED 21-6A, sheet 5B, dwelling 93, William L. Darius (60); imaged, “1940 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/records/52908116).

Terre Haute City Directory (Terre Haute, Indiana : R.L. Polk & Co., 1934), 142, Rev. William L Darius; imaged, “U.S. City Directories,” Ancestry (www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/records/545094295).

“United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942,” database with images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1002/records/17696842) > Kentucky > All > Rev. William Lee Darius > image 986 of 1950: registration card, serial no. 1265, Local Draft Board, Flemingsburg (Fleming County), Kentucky. The draft card states he was born in 1879.

 “Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial,” National Park Service (https://www.nps.gov/mlkm/learn/quotations.htm), Quotations. Photo by Brian Hall.

Rebecca Schneid, “Judge Imposes Sweeping Restrictions on the Tactics ICE Can Use Against Protestors in Minnesota,” Time (https://time.com/7347110/ice-minneapolis-judge-arrests/), 17 January 2026.