Virginia H. Fraser (September 30, 1928 – November 18, 2011) was an American activist for

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, and

elder rights Elder rights are the rights of older adults (usually those in the seventh decade of life or older, although this definition is disputed), who in various countries are not recognized as a constitutionally protected class, yet face discrimination ...

. She was the Long-Term Care Ombudsman for the state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

for more than two decades. She co-wrote several works on

nursing home care A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

and

eldercare Elderly care, or simply eldercare (also known in parts of the English-speaking world as aged care), serves the needs and requirements of senior citizens. It encompasses assisted living, adult daycare, long-term care, nursing homes (often called re ...

. She was inducted into the

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2020, 170 women have been inducted. History There was a short-lived recogniti ...

in 2002.

Early life and education

Virginia Hart was born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Ohio on September 30, 1928. She was a graduate of

Hiram College Hiram College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Hiram, Ohio. It was founded in 1850 as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute by Amos Sutton Hayden and other members of the Disciples of Christ Church. The college is nonsectarian and coe ...

, where she met her husband, Charles H. Fraser. They married in June 1951. The couple moved to Colorado in 1957, where she earned her master's degree in

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at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

Career

In the early 1950s she assisted the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...

with the integration of playgrounds in

Washington, D. C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

She later worked for the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

on issues such as fair housing, civil rights, alternative education, and the environment. She was a frequent participant in

protest marches A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...

and wrote many

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to promote her causes. In 1977 Fraser was inspired to begin advocating for

. She was teaching in a program for "older, non-traditional students" at Loretto Heights College in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. To help students fulfill a course requirement to perform a community service project, she contacted a local nursing home and supervised student activities there. A newspaper article about the project garnered more than 100 requests for assistance, and she contacted the Colorado Congress of Seniors. That organization had just received a $20,000 Federal grant to fund a State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and they offered Fraser the position. She began working in 1980. Fraser grew the office from a one-woman operation to a staff of 40 salaried and 100 volunteer ombudsmen, soliciting funds from both public and private sectors. The ombudsmen advocated for residents of nursing homes and

assisted living An assisted living residence or assisted living facility (ALF) is a housing facility for people with disabilities or for adults who cannot or who choose not to live independently. The term is popular in the United States, but the setting is s ...

facilities across the state. They collected complaints from residents and advocated for them to management, but had no legal power to penalize transgressions. They also prepared an annual report for the

Colorado legislature The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The ses ...

. In the early 2000s, the Colorado State Long-Term Care Ombudsman's office was cited by the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

as one of the "finest" in the country. As part of her visits to nursing homes, Fraser encouraged residents to form their own councils to lobby for their rights. She also created a "residents' rights

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game" that teaches residents and staff about their rights in a fun way. More than 7,000 copies of the game were purchased by nursing homes across the United States. Fraser later suggested a project to stitch a "residents' rights quilt" at one of the largest nursing homes in the state. In May 2001 Fraser and Jan Meyers, then co-directors of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman's office, resigned in protest at an attempt by the

Colorado Department of Human Services The Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) is the principal department of the Colorado state government that operates the state's social services. It has its headquarters in Denver.ngchanges and facilitat ngpublic comment on Federal, state, and local laws, rules and policies", the state department demanded that the ombudsmen obtain permission from it before speaking with legislators or with the media about problems in long-term care facilities.

Affiliations and memberships

Fraser was a founding member of The Network for Special Elders, the predecessor for the local branch of the

Alzheimer's Association The Alzheimer's Association was founded by Jerome H. Stone with the help of several family members in Chicago, Illinois, and incorporated on April 10, 1980, as the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc. It is a non-profit Ame ...

. On the local front, she was a founding member of the Littleton Council on Human Relations and the Metro Denver Fair Housing Center. She was also a member of the Arapahoe Community College Board, the Littleton Planning Commission, and the Littleton Museum Board. She volunteered to record

oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

of numerous long-time Littleton residents for the Museum. She was also a member of the Marias, an informal group of local women activists who met monthly to talk about state, local, and personal issues.

Awards and honors

Fraser received many national awards for her efforts to promote nursing-home rights. In 2000 she was a recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award. She received the ''Littleton Independent'' Most Valuable Citizen Award, and was inducted into the

in 2002.

Personal life

She and her husband Charles H. Fraser, a pediatrician, had four daughters. The family enjoyed hiking, horseback riding, and bicycling. Fraser suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in her later years. She died of a stroke on November 18, 2011, aged 83.

Bibliography

* (with Susan M. Thornton) * (with Susan M. Thornton) * (with Sarah Greene Burger, Sara Hunt, and Barbara Frank)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Virginia 1928 births 2011 deaths Ombudspersons in the United States American women's rights activists American human rights activists Women human rights activists Hiram College alumni University of Denver alumni Writers from Cleveland Activists from Ohio Activists from Colorado 21st-century American women