10. Redress and Renovation

Rachel Gross: Stand at 1050 Ninth Street in front of the red brick building with a blue and gold painted porch. Turn around and look at the whole block of homes. In addition to being a time capsule of early Denver, many of the homes now serve official campus purposes, including offices for faculty members and school administrators. Depending on the time of year, you might see employees on their lunch break or students walking between classes.

Set against the hustle and bustle of a college campus, the longer history of the neighborhood fades into the background.

Tony Garcia, who ended up teaching Chicano Studies at Metro State University years after his family was displaced, recalls his students, many of them first generation Mexicano or Latino, learning about the neighborhood and its history for the first time.

Tony Garcia: Their reactions were they were angry because they had not been told that this existed, that this was, that they, that their people had roots in this neighborhood. They were walking through a place that they thought was foreign and it was really theirs. And nobody had told them that.

Rachel Gross: Continue walking south down the Ninth Street sidewalk until you get to a sign with a list of the buildings and their offices.

Turn around and look back towards the house you just left at 1050 Ninth Street. For years, community activists have sought a dedicated space of gathering and remembrance on campus. Their efforts culminated in the Auraria Peace and Healing Garden, which as of 2025 is planned for the empty lot standing between you and the home at 1050 Ninth Street.

On the rear of that building, you should be able to glimpse part of a colorful mural. The mural shows six people, including two of them wearing graduation caps.

This mural symbolizes the importance of higher education and the ways displaced Aurarians fought for it. Aurarians remember that during debates over removal, officials dangled the promise of a scholarship to the campus’s three schools to Auraria residents, their children, and their grandchildren. They also promised access to the campus library, gym, and pool for locals. But for twenty years, nobody on campus seemed to know these promises.

This is precisely the situation that Sheila Perez-Kindle encountered when she enrolled at CU Denver in 1977.

Sheila Perez-Kindle: I obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. However, during my time at CU Denver, I went to the financial aid office each semester to explain that displaced families were promised a scholarship. Office personnel claimed to know nothing about it and often were rude and dismissive. I never received access to the promised scholarship.

Rachel Gross: Activists worked for years to get the University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver, and Metro State to honor their promise. Because of this activism, the three schools finally agreed to create the Displaced Aurarian Scholarship in 1994 to cover tuition and fees for former residents. Today, all their descendants are eligible for the scholarship, and hundreds of people have taken advantage of it to fund their education.

Alyssa Lobato was one such scholarship recipient. Her great-grandparents Petra and Philip Torres lived at 1033 9th Street. For her, the financial support mattered as she earned her degrees, but so too did the recognition of her family’s history and legacy.

Alyssa Lobato: I will say as a descendant of Displaced Aurarians and, you know, as someone who’s able to take advantage of the education on the Auraria campus. I feel empowered as a student and as a person because I know all of the history involving my family there, I can go witness it.

Rachel Gross: To get to the final stop of the tour, continue south to the end of historic Ninth Street, then cross Champa Street. After crossing, look to your left and you will see a circular mural adorning the brick wall.