The University of Colorado Denver mourns the passing of Dr. Rachel Elizabeth Harding. Rachel was Associate Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Ethnic Studies in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (CLAS). She passed away on May 25, 2026 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, surrounded by her family and her beloved Candomblé community, Terreiro do Cobre.
Rachel completed her B.A. in Religious Studies and an M.F.A in English/Creative Writing at Brown University. She received her PhD in History from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She joined the Ethnic Studies department in 2008 where she was a scholar of Indigenous Spiritual Traditions. She brought her passion and interest for studying the relationship between religion, creativity, and social justice activism to CU Denver.
She taught a variety of courses in Ethnic Studies including Ethnicity and Race in American Popular Culture, The African Diaspora, and Shamanic Traditions. Her teaching deeply touched the lives of students, with one student describing her class like “a weekly warm hug.” Rachel was also a specialist in religions of the Afro-Atlantic diaspora. Her first book, A Refuge in Thunder: Candomblé and Alternative Spaces of Blackness (Indiana University Press, 2000), was a landmark contribution to Black historical studies. Her second book, Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism and Mothering (Duke University Press, 2015), combined her own writings with those of her mother, Rosemarie Freeney Harding, on the role of compassion and spirituality in African American social justice organizing. Remnants was named one of the most influential books of the last decade by Duke University Press’ editorial team in 2019. She was an accomplished poet and the author of numerous poems and essays.
Rachel was a valued colleague, making significant contributions to the Ethnic Studies Department, CLAS, and CU Denver. She stewarded the Department of Ethnic Studies as chair during Spring semester of 2023. Her colleague, Dr. Faye Caronan, shared that Rachel had the unique capability of instilling hope during difficult times by reminding everyone of the hard-fought successes of the long struggle for civil rights. This is evident in Rachel’s remarks to our campus community in CU Denver’s Social Justice Teach-In on Anti-Black Violence in the wake of protests in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd.
In addition to her contribution to campus life, Rachel was a treasured member of the Denver community. She was the daughter of Dr. Vincent Harding and Rosemarie Freeney Harding, civil rights icons, and founders of The Veterans of Hope Project, an initiative to preserve the intersection of religion, culture, and democratic social movements. Rachel was Co-Director of The Veterans of Hope. According to the organization, “Her voice as an activist carried the moral urgency of her parents’ generation into new spaces, bridging artistic expression with a lifelong commitment to racial justice and human dignity. Whether on the page or in community, she showed that scholarship, creativity, and advocacy were never separate callings, but one integrated practice of the beloved community, love made visible.”
She will be deeply missed. In lieu of flowers, her family requests that memorial donations be made to Cave Canem Poets, Indigo Arts Alliance, The Black Star Project, and/or The Veterans of Hope Project. There is a Celebration of Life planned for August 29, from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm, at the Iliff School of Theology. To RSVP: Celebrating the Life of Dr. Rachel Elizabeth Harding - Iliff School of Theology