1125 Pine Street
Boulder, CO 80302
303-441-3110
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1
Call Number
OH3008
Date
2018
Contents
single recording; 96 minutes, 27 seconds
Description
This interview is part of a series on the history of apples in Boulder County. The oral history opens with Bert Tolbert recounting briefly his youth on a farm in Idaho, attending college at the University of California, Berkeley, and working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He came to Boulder in 1955 to take a faculty position at the University of Colorado. He purchased property in north Boulder, which was still somewhat rural at that time. This interview’s focus is the trees he raised on his property. He mentions Chinese elms, then discusses various fruit trees, especially apple trees. There were three old apple trees on the property when he bought it, and he planted several more over the years. Tolbert describes his use of the apples for making apple pie and applesauce. He also reminisces about neighborhood pressing parties to make cider. In addition to fruit trees, Tolbert planted spruce trees, one of which he estimates grew to a hundred feet tall. Finally, he comments on how his neighborhood has changed since his arrival. Bert’s wife Anne and daughter Margaret also participate briefly in the interview.
2
Call Number
OH3012
Date
2019
Contents
single recording; 59 minutes, 54 seconds
Description
This interview is part of a series focusing on the history of apples in Boulder County. Two cousins share oral traditions and personal recollections pertaining to a Boulder-area ranch that their family has owned for five generations. Cherry Moore provides historical and genealogical information concerning the migration of the Pruden, Barber, and Ruby families—early Boulder residents—from Iowa and Illinois to Colorado during the second half of the nineteenth century. Cherry also discusses the lives of Jennie and Charles Pruden, the first members of the family to take possession of the ranch. Using information from Jennie Pruden’s diary, Cherry describes the origins of the apple orchard on the property, which Jennie and Charles Pruden planted during the 1890s. She also reconstructs life on the property around the turn of the twentieth century. Charlie Robinson, who spent much of his childhood living on the ranch, shares memories of his mid-twentieth-century upbringing. Charlie explains the processes by which his family produced apple cider and other agricultural products. He also talks about butchering hogs, trapping animals, and fishing in the South Boulder Creek. Both narrators stress the importance of family and community ties. Many of their recollections are of Sunday dinners and other family gatherings.
3
Call Number
OH3032
Date
2019
Contents
single recording; 56 minutes, 54 seconds
Description
This interview is part of a series focusing on the history of apples in Boulder County. A longtime resident of Longmont, Beth Wintroub discusses the land on which she has lived since the mid-1970s. She gives particular attention to three apple trees located on the plot. In addition, she discusses other fruit trees on the property as well as her vegetable and flower gardens. Wintroub talks about the Johnson family, the original residents who built the late-nineteenth-century house in which she lives. She describes modifications that she and her husband, Tim Schabacker, have made to the house and its surroundings over the course of their time in Longmont. She also talks about differences in the varieties of apples that her trees produce, techniques she uses to care for them, and ways in which she has processed their fruit. The interview ends with a discussion of changes in Boulder over time.
4
Call Number
OH3033
Date
2019
Contents
single recording; 45 minutes, 08 seconds
Description
This interview is part of a series focusing on the history of apples in Boulder County. Dick Dunn tends a cider-apple orchard in Hygiene, Colorado. In this interview, he discusses his decision to plant trees and ferment apple juice. When he began planting in the mid-1990s, Dunn struggled to find information about growing cider apples on the Front Range. Dunn emphasizes the importance of networking in the cider industry. He discusses knowledge that he has acquired over the course of his decades-long experience as a cider-apple grower on the Front Range and also describes the fermentation process for creating hard cider. He lists apple varieties that do well in Colorado’s climate. He talks about common diseases and other threats to apple trees and crops. Among the topics he raises is a 2014 cold snap that damaged and killed many apple trees—both Dunn’s and those belonging to other growers—across a large geographic area. He describes changes in Boulder that he has observed over the years.
5
Call Number
OH3037
Date
2019
Contents
two recordings merged to one audio file; 95 minutes, 32 seconds
Description
Timothy Schabacker describes the history of his Longmont property, beginning with settlement by Swedish immigrants in the 1800s and the founding of the Ryssby settlement. He also describes an orchard in Pella Crossing that existed in the 1860s and that was partially cut down for a county right-of-way. His property, including a house built between 1880 and 1885, was originally part of a 320-acre Swedish immigrant family farm. He details the history of the Johnson family on the land. He also describes an extensive orchard that once was there and that is almost gone now, with only two apple trees remaining after the rest disappeared due to land sales, sheepherding and development. He also talks about other trees on his property, the history of water rights in Colorado, and ditch irrigation on his property.
6
Call Number
OH3042
Date
2019
Contents
single recording; 22 minutes, 29 seconds
Description
This interview is part of a series focusing on the history of apples in Boulder County. Judy Dayhoff talks about growing up on the farm that has been in her family for over 100 years. Her great-grandfather homesteaded the property in 1881. She discusses her family’s history, life as a farm child, the life of the community, what the farm produced, and the apple orchards on the property. She also mentions her involvement, with other local authors, in researching and writing the book "If These Stones Could Talk: Tales from Columbia Cemetery."
7
Call Number
OH3078
Date
2022
Contents
Single recording; 30 minutes, 10 seconds
Description
This interview was recorded on the occasion of a unique fruit tree being planted in front of the Carnegie Library for Local History. [Note: The tree later was moved to the lawn of George Reynolds Branch Library.] Artist Sam Van Aken uses grafting to create an individual tree that is an amalgam of different fruit varietals linked to a single rootstock; the product is a visually arresting, layered, composite that grows as a living work of art. In this interview, Van Aken talks about his personal background and his trajectory as an artist, drawing connections between his family history, education, inspirations, evolving ideas, and projects. He explains what brought him to Boulder for an exhibition titled “Hearing the Call,” scheduled for spring of 2023, in collaboration with the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the Longmont Museum, and the Boulder Apple Tree Project. He explains in detail the mechanics of his process, utilizing heirloom and indigenous apple species to plant trees with multiple fruits, including the one in front of Carnegie Library. Van Aken shares some of his impressions of Boulder County, what he anticipates for his next visits, and touches on the future of his artistic endeavors.