Dr. Robbie Bean was born on December 23, 1929 in Winona, Mississippi. Her father was a United Methodist minister and the family moved to wherever the churched placed him. From Winona, they moved to St Joseph, Missouri and lived there for five years before moving to Lincoln, Nebraska. Robbie received her Bachelors of Arts and Masters in Education from the University of Nebraska (1950). Her family moved to Denver in 1953 and she followed. She then received her Doctorate in Education Curriculum from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
She was a teacher at Gilpin Elementary, DPS, until her retirement in 1992. Dr. Bean has lived in Park Hill since 1961 and still lives in the same home that she and her husband Howard moved into almost 40 years ago. She has two daughters, Patricia and Vivian, and one granddaughter.Dr. Robbie Bean’s lasting impression on Denver will be her work in the community with children and parents and for building bridges toward better race relations. Making her home in northeast Park Hill for many decades, she is best known for her involvement with Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. (GPHC) and Celebration of Families-Students, Inc.She established the latter in 1998 to celebrate families, students, teachers, and churches that have made a difference in their community. Awards are presented annually at the New Hope Baptist Church. This organization also sponsors an annual intergenerational educational trip to South Dakota where seniors and youth learn from each other and their visits to study different cultures and landscapes. The children are given research assignments and make a presentation to the group at the end of the trip. This experience is then shared with the public at a Community Sharing Time following their return to Denver.
Dr. Bean is the recipient of numerous awards and recognition for her involvement in community and national organizations, such as: American Association of University Women, National Council of Negro Women, Greater Park Hill Community, Park Hill Resources and Denver’s 150. On November 15, 1999, the City and County of Denver passed a resolution declaring Dr. Robbie Bean as an outstanding educational and civic leader. Most recently, she was one of six recipients of the 2011 Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Awards for Lifetime Achievement.
Park Hill is indebted to Dr. Robbie Bean for her contributions to GPHC as past president and board member. Her celebration and recognition of the village that it takes to raise a child is a positive and infectious energy evident immediately upon meeting her. Twelve years following the City and County resolution mentioned above, the declaration still fits.
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