On Nov. 10, Colorado State University-Pueblo Archives and the local Chicano community joined efforts to co-sponsor two events related to the online archive of La Cucaracha, an alternative Pueblo newspaper that focused on the Chicano movement in Colorado during the seventies and eighties.
The event, which was open to the public, took place in LARC 109 from 6 to 9 p.m.
According to a 10/11/16 CSU-Pueblo press release, the “CSU-Pueblo’s University Archives is a part of the University Library. Its mission is to collect, preserve, and make accessible materials that document the University’s history and Southern Colorado’s ethnic heritage and diversity.”
La Cucaracha, which was published between 1976 and 1983, reported stories of interest to the Chicano population. CSU-Pueblo archivist and associate professor, Beverly Allen, was responsible for arranging the event.
“La Cucaracha was a very high regarded Chicano newspaper published in Pueblo to provide an alternate view from mainstream outlets like the Chieftain,” said Allen.
The newspaper had ended primarily due to financial issues in 1983, she added.
“Not only did it report on stories of interest to the Chicano population that the Chieftain did not, but it also provided an alternative viewpoint which helped give a fuller picture,” Allen said.
The three-hour long campus event featured a discussion by former La Cucaracha editors and staffers David Martinez, Juan Espinosa and Rita Martinez, who talked about their most significant contributions to the newspaper.
Martinez, Espinosa and Martinez were students of the University of Colorado-Boulder during the Chicano Movement, in the early 1970s. They had participated in rallies, protests and other events at the time, according to the Colorado Chicano Movement History Portal.
After graduating and deciding to start a newspaper that reached out to the Chicano people, the three contributors settled on Pueblo because of the city’s large Hispanic population.
La Cucaracha covered several topics, including police brutality, healthcare, land rights and education as well as both local and national news.
“La Cucaracha just went online in early October because we believe it will make an important resource for Chicano history much more accessible to the public at large,” said Allen.
The website is currently available through the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collections website.
According to the 10/11 press release, “the Archives received grants from the Statewide Internet Authority (SIPA), the Colorado Association of Libraries’ International Library Cultural Exchange Interest Group (CAL-ILCE) as well as CSU’s President’s Gala Fund to pay for several projects related to La Cucaracha.”
A workshop was held Nov. 12, between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., that focused on accessing and navigating the website.
For additional information about the incentive, visit:
http://www.csupueblo.edu/Communications/Media/PressReleases/2016/Pages/10-12-2016-1.aspx
Edited by: Theresa Wolf
