“It is only me standing in my way.” Charlotte MacLeod chided herself. “I left my job when I lost my sight. They did not ask me to leave.” So, Charlotte shook off the heavy cloak of doubt, took a ragged breath, and stepped out into the scary sighted world she left behind.

Charlotte was born in Missouri in 1872. She came to Denver with her parents around 1900. Her father was a Notary Public, a Salesman, and a conductor for the Denver streetcar company. Her mother was a dressmaker. Charlotte struck out on her own and found work as a stenographer. She too became a Notary Public and secured a table in the lobby of the St. James Hotel at 16^th Street and Curtis.

In those days, one asked for permission to set up shop in the hotel. A fee was paid to larger hotels by the stenographer for use of a table or an office in or near the lobby. For beginner stenographers, they sat in a corner of the lobby and those whose business was not private would dictate their correspondence or sign contracts with the stenographer as a witness.

The St. James Hotel was not the biggest hotel in Denver, but it attracted many repeat-businessmen to its doors. The first shipment of pre-ordered Cadillac cars sold in Denver were parked outside of the St. James Hotel in 1906 for the town’s people to admire. Each car had at least one uniformed chauffeur to attend to the car until its owner claimed the vehicle. The hotel offered Charlotte the opportunity to meet people who could afford such luxury and expand her knowledge of the business world.

In 1903 Charlotte had an apartment about a six-block walk to and from work. Her hours were set from mid morning till 5 or 6 pm. From time to time a guest would require her to work later in the evening and she could still safely walk the short distance home.

After the death of her father, in 1905 Charlotte moved to 231 22nd Street. The location was nicer, but much further from work. Her mother moved in with Charlotte and they lived together for the next ten years. Denver had a streetcar system at the time and most likely she rode the streetcar to and from work.

Charlotte noticed that she was having difficulty with her vision in early 1908. She went to a local doctor who said there was not much that could be done. She did not have enough money to travel to another state and get a second opinion from a specialist. Her sight grew less and less. At the end of the year, Charlotte found another person to take her place at the St. James, but with the understanding that if Charlotte could get enough sight back, she could return. To admit that she could no longer work tore her apart. She was heart-sick and scared.

Several Colorado newspapers published an article in April of 1908, that told the story of a successful, blind stenographer in New York City. But Charlotte must not have read it as she said later in her life that she did not know any blind person who had a job or was self-supporting.

In 1909, the grand opening of the Colorado Workshop for the Blind was held in Denver. Jobs making brooms, mops, nets, and the like were offered. Men could take a job selling the products door to door. This was the only option for any sort of blindness training in the state of Colorado for an adult going blind. The workshop even accepted women. But Charlotte did not want to make brooms.

Finding no resources to help her adjust to her blindness, and get back to the St. James, Sharlotte took matters into her own hands. At first, Charlotte was very depressed. Although not working at the hotel, she did take on a few dictation jobs at home. With her mother’s income, this was enough for the two women to live for a while. But when times got bad, Charlotte gave herself a talking to and pushed herself to rebuild her life as a blind person. Here is how she describes her own personal rehabilitation plan.

“I began to familiarize myself with the keyboard of the typewriter, for I had not been a touch operator. To my great joy, I was soon able to write by touch. I knew that confidence in myself would win the confidence of the public and make a success of the business. In a few months I returned to my position in the hotel, convinced that I could do the work, and the years of success which have followed have proved that I was not mistaken.

I purchased the best standard single-key typewriter on the market and began to work for accuracy and speed. I practiced all day long for months and even years, criticizing my work severely, each day seeking higher speed and perfection. Practicing continuously as I did, I found no difficulty in doing the regular work that came in and which was easily taken on the machine by direct dictation. “

Her confidence grew. Her mother became a nurse. Charlotte, now known as Lottie, reached out and became more socially active. Charlotte got her job back at the St. James where she carried a full load of dictation for the guests. Her poise and confidence allowed her to change the subject of her blindness to conversations that drew away from her disability. When a letter was completed, she asked her client to check it and make corrections, thus not needing a proofreader.

Charlotte married Lin J. Luce on May 4, 1915, in Denver. This was her first marriage, and she was 40 years old. For the first few years of their marriage, they continued to live in Lottie’s apartment. Lin was her age and worked as a stenographer for many years before their marriage. He worked all around Colorado, traveling where new land opened or mining interests required small and large companies to find high-quality, clerical support.

When the First World War broke out, Lin wanted to serve his country, but he was too old for the military. He took a job with the War Department in Washington D. C. The two of them moved to the nation’s capital and took rooms at 912, 19th St. NW.

Lottie got a job in the lobby of a hotel on Pennsylvania Ave, a mile from their D. C. apartment. Each day she walked or traveled back and forth on public transit by herself. The hotel let her have space in the lobby for a small cost. The hotels along Pennsylvania Ave attracted many politicians, dignitaries and of course soldiers and sailors from all parts of the United States. Through her work, she met a wide variety of mostly men from varied backgrounds who opened her eyes to new things. Getting to know them, she also realized that with all the differences of race, creed, or background, “We are all the same inside” she later wrote.

After three years and the war was over, they both returned to Denver. Lottie and Linn purchased a home at 2233 Court St. Lin found work as a stenographer for a real estate firm in Denver. Charlotte went back to the St. James Hotel and earned her own private office as the hotel’s stenographer and Dictaphone operator.

Getting her old job back said a lot for her skills. After the first and second world wars, many blind men and women found their jobs given to returning vets. But not Charlotte. She worked up until her death in 1947.

Peggy Chong is the 2018 and 2023 Jacob Bolotin Award Winner.

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