Published: March 30, 2017

The history of Latinos in Boulder County, described as a largely invisible chronology, will be discussed by a University of Colorado Boulder distringuished professor and a retired Boulder Valley teacher in conjunction with the Conference on World Affairs.

Linda Arroyo-Holmstrom and Marjorie K. McIntosh will discuss the and what has been learned from the research on Thursday, April 13, at 5:30 p.m. at the .

The event is sponsored by Friends of the Libraries at CU Boulder, the Boulder Public Library, the Boulder Library Foundation and the Boulder County Latino History Project.

Arroyo-Holmstrom, a Boulder native and retired educator in the local public schools, was a key member of the advisory committee of the Boulder County Latino History Project and is involved with the project鈥檚 work with K-12 teachers.

She employs vivid personal stories about her grandparents and parents, who illustrate many aspects of Boulder County Latinos鈥 experiences.

McIntosh, distinguished professor of history emerita at CU Boulder, is the project鈥檚 historian and author of the two-volume set of books that describes the project鈥檚 findings. The books describe the lives and contributions of Latinos in Boulder County, shedding light on people who have been largely invisible in local history books and school curricula, she has said.

After retiring as a history professor, McIntosh realized that she 鈥渄idn't know anything about the history of Latinos鈥 in this area. 鈥淚 went to the local history library but found that nothing had been written about the topic,鈥 McIntosh said.

鈥淟atinos were barely visible in local history books or the school curriculum. So I began talking with local Latino elders and community groups to ask if they might be interested in a community-based project to gather information about the history and culture of Latinos in Boulder County and to make it widely available. Their enthusiastic response led to the formation of the Boulder County Latino History Project.鈥

Starting with the arrival of Hispanics from Mexico, New Mexico and southern Colorado between 1900 and 1940, the study traces the experiences of Latinos over the course of four generations. The study draws upon an exceptional collection of 1,600 sources gathered by 10 student interns and 80 community volunteers with the Boulder County Latino History Project in 2013-14. 听

Light refreshments will be served at 5:30 p.m., and the author鈥檚 presentation will begin at 6 p.m. This event is free and open to the public, and the author will sign copies of her book (which will be for sale at the event) immediately following his presentation.

The Spring Treasures event is one of three hosted by Friends of the Libraries each year鈥攁long with Fall Treasures and Summer Just Desserts.

For more information, contact Lisa Kippur at lisa.kippur@colorado.edu or 303-492-7512.听