Grand Junction (Colo.) -- History
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Ethel M. Hotchkiss describes her time spent as a member of the Grand Junction Women’s Club. The club provided local support for the community, helping to sponsor Mesa Junior College, an early child care center, and the Grand Junction Public Library’s Carnegie building. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society....
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Compound
Nevada Burford discusses the history of her pioneering parents, who came to Grand Junction in 1882 and homesteaded in Kannah Creek. She also talks about the Handy Chapel and Grand Junction’s early African-American community. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
*Transcript for Tape 2 of 4 only.
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Compound
Mabel Hart Johnson talks about life in Meeker, Colorado in the early 1900’s, Teddy Roosevelt’s mountain lion hunting trip in the area, and what the life of a woman was like in Meeker. She also discusses her battle with the illness St. Vitus’s Dance, using scrip during the Great Depression, homesteading near the White River, raising a family in Grand Junction, and bowling. Her husband Murl Hazen Johnson talks about working as a truck driver for...
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Voice Recording
Mary Colosimo talks about the life of her Italian immigrant family on a truck farm in the Pomona area of Mesa County, Colorado. She also discusses her marriage to railroad man Charles Colosimo, his career with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, including his stints as a call-boy and an engineer, railroad disciplinary measures, and train accidents. Lorene Roice talks about what brought her to Grand Junction at the end of World War II, her husband’s...
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Voice Recording
Mary Rait explains how Grand Junction Junior College was created (later to become Colorado Mesa University), and her role there as teacher, administrator, and lastly, as vice president. She mentions the various deans and their accomplishments. She tells about the growth of the school as it became Mesa College and its eventual change into a four-year school. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa...
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Voice Recording
During the program Women in Politics at the Museum of Western Colorado, Maxine Albers, the first woman to serve as a Mesa County Commissioner, and Jane Quimby, the first woman to serve on Grand Junction’s City Council, talk about their experience as pioneering women in politics, about sexism they faced from some male politicians, and about the local legislative process. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration...
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Compound
Sarah Monnahan describes the instability of her young life, with her father leaving the family when she was two, being left to live with grandparents, great-grandparents and strangers in several different towns and states during her mother’s three marriages, and a house fire that singed her hair and clothes before destroying all of her belongings. She finally found something like a normal life when she was sent to live with her grandmother and uncle...
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Compound
Lucy Ela talks about the history of the Reviewers Club, founded in 1904, one of the first women’s clubs in Grand Junction, Colorado. She speaks about Harriette Ottman, a “woman of the times” who had broad knowledge of many topics and organized the group’s presentations. She describes the varied presentations that members gave. She discusses the role of the Women’s Club in the creation of the Grand Junction Public Library, and the support...
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Compound
Former Grand Junction Mayor Jane Quimby talks about her upbringing in Rifle and Grand Junction, Colorado, and her studies. She reminisces about her husband’s profession, being a mother and homemaker for six children, and teaching flute and piano. She remembers substitute teaching from 1967 to 1971 and how that challenge gave her the courage to seek political office. She speaks about the support that she received from other women in the community...
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Voice Recording
William Ela talks about his family’s arrival in the Little Dolores River area of Mesa County in 1881 and their establishment of the 2-V Ranch. He tells stories about his grandfather, the pioneer rancher and Grand Junction town mayor William Phillips Ela. He remembers his grandfather’s horse Looney and his escapades. He speaks about the dangers of travel to and from Glade Park in the early days. He recalls stories passed down about his ancestors’...
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Compound
Helen Johnson talks about helping teach a WPA-funded dance class during the Great Depression. She speaks about other government programs, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, and how they helped the people of Mesa County, Colorado during the Great Depression. She describes working for Douglas Aircraft in Los Angeles to manufacture airplanes during World War II, where she became the lead in her section. She talks about her brief career teaching...
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Compound
Ann Stokes talks about her father-in-law Walter Stokes and his involvement in Nineteenth century labor strife as a union coal miner in Colorado. She describes his establishment of the Stokes Mine after he moved to Mesa County and describes the mine’s operations. She speaks about early phone service in Palisade. She discusses her mom’s job as a nurse in rural areas, which included tasks like housecleaning, cooking, and sewing baby clothes for new...
