Stand here to start
Open in: Google Maps | Apple Maps
“Displaced But Not Erased” - the mural located at 951 9th Street and the tour’s final stop - was designed with the community’s input to commemorate the neighborhood that once stood there. This stop, which features displaced Aurarian Sheila Perez-Kindle, closes the tour by asking listeners to remember this community and share its stories.
Listen
Transcript
Sheila Perez-Kindle: Hello, again. This is Sheila Perez-Kindle. The tour’s final stop is here in front of a mural titled “Displaced but not Erased,” completed in 2024 by Silas “Jolt” Ulibarri, and Ezra Herrera, a descendant of Displaced Auraria. With much input from the Displaced Aurarian community, the mural commemorates the neighborhood that once was, and the culture that thrived here. Take notice of the arms and hands holding the community and notice that the wrist and hand of the young girl at the top and the woman walking toward the homes all wear the same beautiful bracelet and ring. We want you to view that as a sign of resilience!
We and our descendants are still here, despite the trauma, and are a testament to our community’s resilience and its history. We have offered you the gift of our stories and culture and hope you treasure them and pass them on.
If you want to delve deeper into the history of the community’s resistance and resilience, as well as the larger Chicano Movement in Colorado, check out El Semanario’s “We Speak Your Language” podcasts. We also like History Colorado’s archives of “El Movimiento” and “I Am Auraria,” exhibit at the Auraria Library. If you want to become involved in or donate to the community’s current efforts to keep their stories alive, please visit the Auraria Historical Advocacy Council’s Facebook page.
So now when you walk through campus, this is what I hope you remember or think about. We, our families, and our neighbors were never somnolent! Our barrio may have been poor, but it was full of strong and energetic people! The community organized and fought against the displacement. It is my hope that you and every individual–whether it be a student, faculty member, or visitor–who walks through and sees this sacred place will know even a portion of the history of the forced removal by eminent domain and the trauma that still exists today more than 50 years later.
Thank you.
Rachel Gross: This history tour was written by Cameron Blevins, Michelle Comstock, Rachel Gross, Krista Marks, and Indira Saha, with editorial oversight by Sheila Perez-Kindle, Virginia Castro, and Frances Torres. Krista Marks and Indira Saha edited the tour. Sophia Imperioli provided additional research. Music was provided by Tony Garcia and Daniel Valdez. Funding for this project came from the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from Nolbert D. Chavez, Chief Strategy Officer, University of Colorado Denver. The oral histories we drew from come from the History Colorado Center’s Museum of Memory project on Auraria. With special thanks to the Auraria Historical Advocacy Council, whose vision helped create this tour.