1125 Pine Street
Boulder, CO 80302
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Call Number OH2021Date 2015Contents single recording 41 minutes, 41 secondsDescription Mike Thompson, a member of Boulder Fish and Game, has been living at the trout hatchery across from Boulder Public Library since 1978, taking care of the trout that eventually end up in the Evert Pierson Kids’ Fishing Pond. Each year he raises 2000 trout dropped off by the Colorado Division of Wildlife until they’re at least 7 inches long, big enough to release into the pond and send to some of the area’s high lakes. He describes some of the challenges of running the trout hatchery, such as keeping the runs clean, helping the trout stay healthy enough to grow to a catchable size, and keeping the property and the fish safe from college students and raccoons. He talks about the history of the trout hatchery and the kids’ fishing pond, including the role that Boulder Fish and Game played and still plays in keeping the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area high lakes stocked with trout. He emphasizes the important part that donations and volunteers play in keeping the hatchery and the ponds running for generations of children and families to enjoy.
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Call Number OH2022Date 2013Contents single recording 73 minutes, 49 secondsDescription Frank Quinn, an employee of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant for more than 33 years, talks about his early years of education in Denver and Golden, as well as his military service in the U.S. Army as part of the Army Marine Ship Repair Company. He was on his way to fight in Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and later served in Japan during the post-war occupation. After he returned from the Army, he was employed first at Hanford Works and then at Rocky Flats from 1952 to 1985. He talks about the construction of and uses of the Rocky Flats buildings, the 1957 and 1969 fires, how nuclear safety was handled, women workers at Rocky Flats, unions at Rocky Flats, the satisfactions of the job, and the wind at Rocky Flats. He also describes a time he was contaminated when working in a glove box at Hanford.
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Call Number OH2023Date 2015Contents single recording 44 minutes, 12 secondsDescription Long-time resident Geraldine Thomas talks about the “hippie invasion” of Boulder in the late 1960s. She describes the attitudes of citizen, police and youth during that time. She details the involvement of a Christian ministry with which she and her husband, Gene Thomas, were involved and gives many examples of how this Christian ministry helped members of the hippie community thrive, become more personally responsible, and become more integrated into society in general and the Boulder community in particular. She also talks about how some members of the hippie community became Christians after exposure to the ministry, the overall generosity of people in the hippie culture, and the ways in which the hippie movement changed American culture even as many former hippies eventually became more conventional members of society. Although she and her husband were pejoratively called “hippie lovers” by some in the community, they continued to work with the hippie community with a great sense of compassion and open-mindedness.
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Call Number OH2024Date 2015Contents Single recording, three original audio files merged; three hours, seven minutes, ten secondsDescription Marge Taniwaki was involved with KGNU radio station: bringing Latin-American news to the listening audience and, with her husband Leo Griep-Ruiz, producing the program “La Lucha Sigue.” Marge also served two three-year terms on the board of KGNU. This interview touches on KGNU but details Marge’s personal and family history. Her maternal great-great grandfather arrived in the U.S. from Japan in 1860; he was part of a delegation to establish commercial trade. Because of his diary, which was translated into English, Marge has insight into specific stories and her grandfather’s private thoughts. Speaking about her father, Marge describes his arrival in the U.S., jobs, and even an association with Charlie Chaplin. Much of the oral history focuses on the time following Pearl Harbor and the outbreak of World War II, when her family—being of Japanese descent—was imprisoned at Manzanar, near Death Valley in California. Marge was seven months old when her family was placed there for a duration of four years. She describes her specific memories and the extreme conditions of that existence. She also talks about relatives’ experiences in WWII; for example, a cousin was drafted into the Japanese imperial army and was in Hiroshima when the atom bomb was dropped. After Manzanar was closed, in the fall of 1945, the Taniwaki family was not allowed to return to their Los Angeles home; they traveled by train to Denver because a family friend had started a soy-sauce factory in the city. Marge goes into her upbringing, issues that have galvanized her time and attention, and her involvement in radical groups. Marge has been active in many areas of progressive action, and she has worked with the Friends of Amache on reconstruction of the Camp Amache site Granada, Colorado.
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Call Number OH2026Date 2015Contents single recording 84 minutes, 15 secondsDescription Jim Williams served as an administrator in the Boulder Valley School District for 32 years, beginning in 1966. He details his years as assistant principal, athletic director, deputy superintendent, and acting superintendent in the district, which encompassed such difficult events as the death of a Whittier elementary school student in a bus accident in the mountains, a budget crisis which turned out to be largely a false alarm due to accounting errors, and the death of another Whittier Elementary School student that occurred when a driver skidded on an icy patch of road outside the school. National events such as the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and changing sexual and other norms provided a backdrop to his time in the district and resulted in local challenges. In addition, he watched Boulder change with the arrival of IBM, the influx of hippies, and changes in the make-up of the school board through the years. He discusses in particular the effects of the civil rights movement, as students of color and students in general began standing up for their rights, necessitating changes in policies in the schools. He also reminisces about various superintendents he served under when he was deputy superintendent in the second half of his career.
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Call Number OH2028Date 2015Contents single recording 65 minutes, 38 secondsDescription Clela Rorex, as Boulder County Clerk in 1975, issued the first same-sex marriage license in the United States after the Boulder City Council passed an early ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gay people in 1974. A life-long advocate for equal rights for women and LGBTQ persons, she retells the story of the actions she took in 1975, which included issuing six same-sex marriage licenses—and famously NOT issuing a marriage license to a man who, as a joke, asked her to grant a license for him to marry his horse—and places them in the context of the attitudes and reactions to the equal protection movements during that time. She also tells about the modernization of the County Clerk’s office and innovations that were implemented. She describes the continuation of her fight for marriage equality after her retirement from her position as County Clerk and details later work she did in public administration and legal administration, including work for the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder.
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Call Number OH2029Date 2016Contents Single recording; 23 minutes, 28 secondsDescription Victor Warren Fabrizio was a Boulder native. He talks about his early childhood and the iconic restaurants in Boulder that he helped create. He began his restaurant career by working for his uncle at Mama Rosa’s Pizzeria in Denver. He later used those recipes in creating The Gondolier in Boulder with business partner Gary Kugel. He describes an “art for food” bartering system that he enjoyed while running The Gondolier. After selling his share of The Gondolier, he started Tico's restaurant, in the location that is the present-day Rio Grande in Boulder. The interview was cut short due to Mr. Fabrizio’s health issues and fatigue. Mr. Fabrizio died on March 2, 2016, in Denver, before the interview could be resumed.
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Call Number OH2030Date 2016Description In 1977, a young, relatively inexperienced teacher, Linda Hagen, begins work at University Hill Elementary, an experimental school following the Bank Street Model of Progressive Experiential Education, under the tutelage of Naomi Grothjan. Following Grothjan's death, the Uni Hill School merges wtih the more traditional Washington School, and its unique philosophy is eventually subjugated to the traditional, until it disappears under the No Child Left Behind regulations. Hagen also speaks about her time as a sorority girl at CU in the '60s, her husband Jim's career at IBM, and what Boulder was like in that era. She relates some unpleasant experiences at traditional schools, as well as the tragic loss of her sister's husband in Vietnam.
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Call Number OH2031Date 2015Description Dr. Cohen is a professor in the Colorado School of Mines' Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He contributed to the Rocky Flats Environmental Monitoring Council, presenting technical information to the group. In this interview, Cohen describes his involvement with Rocky Flats - dating back to 1986 - which includes characterizing the contamination on site and determining remediation methods for radionuclides. He discusses incidents and findings that caused alarm; raises quesitons about cleanup being carried out without commensurate research; and addresses the likelihood that environmental rules were "bent". Cohen also explains the history of Colorado School of Mines' involvement with Rocky Flats.
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Call Number OH2032Date 2015Description Dr. Honeyman is an Associate Vice President for Research at the Colorado School of Mines. In this interview he talks about his involvement with Rocky Flats, from about 1997 to 2002: providing Kaiser Hill with expert analysis of remediation efforts; his scientific research; and his roles on the Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) and Scientific Advisory Board. Honeyman compares Rocky Flats to other U.S. sites with nuclear materials. He shares thoughts about the impact of Rocky Flats on his career, including challenges, stresses, and lessons learned - emphasizing the tension of working with the public as a scientist. Honeyman also weighs in on the lasting health concerns associated with Rocky Flats.
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Call Number OH2033-VDate 2016Description Four "founding mothers" talk about the creation and growth of the Jewish Community Center Preschool, including a sense of community that it engenders among students and parents alike, the way it builds knowledge and pride in children about their Jewish identity, the bridges built to the non-Jewish community in Boulder, and the expanding opportunities for enrichment that have been offered to students over the years. They are joined part way through the interview by the first director of the preschool, who now has taught there for more than 30 years.
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Call Number OH2034Date 2016Contents single recording 54 minutes, 11 secondsDescription Bruce MacKenzie, a retired Congregational minister, talks about his journey to Boulder and his time there. He briefly touches on family ancestry. He discusses his family history in a more in-depth way: how they came to live in California, what their lives were like there, and their views on the world. He talks about his education at the University of California at Berkley and at the Pacific School of Religion. He tells the story of how he traveled from California to Denver, where he worked at the Washington Park Congregational Church for 10 years during the civil rights movement. Then he discusses his remaining 27 years as a Congregational minister at the First Congregational Church in Boulder. He details the democratic structure of the church, the nature of the church as a strong community, and some of the social justice actions taken by the church during his tenure.