In the summer of 1956, Dr. Charles Nilon and his wife, Nancy Mildred Nilon, arrived at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He would be the first Black faculty member hired at the university and she, the first Black librarian. Born into the turbulence and cultural contradications of the decade of the "Roaring Twenties," Nancy Mildred Harper was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1920.

She was the youngest of the three children growing up in a neighborhood just two streets from Alabama State University. She rollerskated with friends, and went to movies with her brother, Lemuel Paul Jr., her sister Vernita and the neighbor's children. It was in this community that Nancy Mildred developed a strong sense of culture, self-pride and a positive identity, which contributed to the great success that she has achieved in her lifetime. As African Americans struggled in the face of oppression in a cruel and segregated South, Mildred's family and community taught her to transcend above oppression.

Mildred loved school and early on became an avid reader. Books were central to her life. As sshe looked towards a career, she found it in librarianship. She received a Bachelor's degree from Alabama State University, a Bachelor of Library Science from Atlanta University, and a Master's degree from the University of Denver, in 1962. Prior to coming to the University of Colorado, she was employed at Atlanta University Library; as Assistant Librarian at Alabama State University Library and as the Social Science Reference Librarian at Wayne State University Libraries. She served for 25 years at the University of Colorado Libraries in various capacities and retired as Assistant Director for Public Services. While employed at the University, she received the University Medal, and jointly with Charles Nilon, received the Alumni Association's prestigious Robert L. Sterns Award. In the early 1990s, The Charles H. and N. Mildred Nilon Award for Excellence in Minority Fiction was established.

In Boulder, Mildred has been active in the community by bringing the same kind of commitment that formed her early life. She has served as presidernt of the United Black Women of Boulder Valley, set up as a support group for Black women in Boulder County. She was also on the YWCA, the Boulder County Mental Health Foundation, and the Historic Boulder boards. She has also been a reader for the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. Mildred co-established with Ellen Tate and Judy Volc, the Boulder Friends of Kenya Book Project, which has shipped over two tons of books to schools throughout Kenya. She is currently volunteering at Historic Boulder. What is least known about Mildred is the role she played in the retention of the early African American faculty by opening her home, which provided comfort, family and intellectual engagement.