Rachel Bassette Noel (January 15, 1918 – February 4, 2008) was an American educator, politician and civil rights leader in Denver, Colorado.

The African-American physician and European-American politician were from different lines of descendants of Leland Noel, a major white planter in Holmes County before the American Civil War.

Rachel Bassette Noel became increasingly active in civil rights and school issues in Denver.

Noel became active in civic affairs and politics in the 1960s, working to integrate local schools and ensure that minorities had equal opportunities.

In 1965, Noel was elected as the first African American to serve on the Denver Public Schools Board of Education.

Public opposition was high, and Noel and her family received many threatening phone calls and hate mail.

[2][3] Noel was a professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver, where she founded the African-American Studies Department in 1971, chairing it until 1980.

She was appointed as a Commissioner of the Denver Housing Authority[4] Noel served on the Advisory Board of the United States Civil Rights Commission.