Oral history interview, Marta Valenzuela Moreno, 2013 (video and transcript)

Credits: 
Boulder County Latino History Project, Maria Rogers Oral History Program, and Carnegie Branch Library for Local History, Boulder Public Library. Click on the above link to access complete bibliographic information.
Detailed Summary: 
Marta Moreno is the Executive Director of El Comité a non-profit organization that focuses on helping the underserved people in the community primarily Latinos to have access to solve legal problems, achieve citizenship, recoup wages and many others. She talks about growing up in El Paso, Texas with her very protective parents. She also talks about the influence the nuns and priests had in her life. She later describes her educational experience in El Paso, Texas where she felt out of place because of her background. She moved to Boulder in the mid 1970s because her husband was hired as a mechanical engineer for IBM. When she moved to Boulder she realized that the churches did not offer Spanish mass so she helped petition and eventually they had Spanish mass. Later, the community came together to have more Latino celebrations such as posadas and quinceañeras. Also, she talks about being discriminated in El Paso and Boulder County. Next, she talks the history of El Comité, which started after two Hispanic men were killed by police officers in 1980. Before this incident there were signs in stores, restaurants and bars that said, “No dogs or Mexicans allowed.” After the murder of the two young men the community came together to protest and El Comité was created to be the voice of the people. She goes further into detail and describes all of the ways in which El Comité helps the community.
ID: 
BCLHP-MKM-135
Location: 
El Paso
Texas; Boulder County; Longmont
Date: 
8/7/2013
Time Period: 
1940s
1950s-1965
1966-1970s
1980s-90s
2000-2013
People Shown or Mentioned: 
Marta Valenzuela Moreno
Location of Original: 
Carnegie Branch Library for Local History, Boulder