Oral history interview, Sonia Marquez, 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: 
Sonia Marquez is the director for Northern Colorado of CIRC (Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition) and has set up youth groups in Longmont (LYFE) and Lafayette. Her maternal grandparents came to Longmont around 1932 from northern New Mexico in a covered wagon; her grandfather, John Borrego, worked in the fields and then in meat packing. Her father came from Chihuahua, Mexico, when he was 19 and worked on farms and in construction. She describes discrimination experienced by relatives in Longmont during the 1930s and later, including signs in businesses that stated that dogs and Mexicans were not welcome. Sonia talks about her difficulties going through school in Longmont as a Latina, her college education, and being fired from the Longmont Youth Center, which was protested by many of the center’s clients. She speaks of the work that CIRC does, especially around immigration reform, her passion for empowering young people, and the importance of preserving people’s stories and culture.
ID: 
BCLHP-MKM-149
Location: 
New Mexico; Longmont
Date: 
8/12/2013
Time Period: 
1920s-30s
1940s
1950s-1965
1966-1970s
1980s-90s
2000-2013
People Shown or Mentioned: 
Sonia Marquez; Norma Kelly
Location of Original: 
Carnegie Branch Library for Local History, Boulder