Oral history interview, Edwina Salazar, 2013 (video and transcript)

Edwina Salazar is the executive Director of the OUR Center in Longmont, Colorado. She was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1948; her father was a barber. Her father’s family, originally of Jewish origin, was from No. New Mexico but had moved to the San Luis Valley in Colorado. Her mother’s family were farm workers who settled in Erie. Attended a liberal Catholic school in the 1960s; the nuns and priests were active in Civil Rights and anti-war movements. Her mother, who died when Edwina was 14, cleaned houses; insisted Edwina get an education so she could do better. After high school Edwina worked in the defense industry in California and then attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins where she discovered her passion for social work. Describes Civil Rights agitation while she was there. She has a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Social Work. Moved to Longmont in 1992, where she helped arrange for a monument in Kensington Park for two youths killed in 1980. Describes the OUR Center and her work with it.