Betty Aragon said she will never look down at her shoes again. Aragon was born in Trinidad, Colorado but moved to Fort Collins around age 10 when her father traded coal mining for sugar beet farming.  Her pride for her community’s strength and resiliency shines through every word she speaks despite experiencing her own share of offensive and discriminatory interactions. Growing up, she said “as long as we were in a safe zone, it was normal to smell somebody making tamales or beans,” but outside of their neighborhood, they were cautious and aware of limitations as children.  She attended local public schools, and these years helped shape her sense of self. Out of all schools she attended, she said “there was always that discrimination.”  Aragon felt discrimination in both direct and subtle ways. She recalled a child next door who wanted to play with her, but her mother told her to ask “if your name ends in a ‘z’ or an ‘s’ first.”  Aragon as an adult was able to recognize that this was a strategy to subtly ask about traditional Hispanic last names.

These experiences shaped her early years where she remembered always looking at her shoes while walking in public in an effort to not be seen or judged. Her community’s connectedness always brought her back home to safety. While recalling the musical “jam” sessions in her neighborhood, she said “that was the beauty of people coming together in community, because it was safe and we all looked out for each other.”  Aragon continues to look out for her community through her work today. She works with the organization Mujeres de Colores as the founder to help provide for her community and create a safe space for culture and leadership.

Stories of local advocates for Hispanic rights during the mid-1900s address the role of the Chicano Movement in Fort Collins and Colorado as well as how it impacted local families and neighborhoods. Leaders emerged in Fort Collins advocating for the rights and acceptance of the Hispanic community. Charlie Martinez was known as the mayor throughout the Alta Vista neighborhood due to his leadership in the community and his time serving as mayor of the neighborhood.  While not an official office, his reputation and trust from the community represents his impact on his neighborhood. James Martinez was a Chicano leader in Fort Collins who fought for the creation of the Laporte Avenue Elementary School.  Education is an important cornerstone of culture, so providing space for safe and culturally responsive education was vital to this community. The actions in Fort Collins by Hispanic leaders and organizations connect to the larger story of Hispanic advocacy in an effort to make the community safer and more inclusive despite harmful discrimination.

Local Leaders

Leadership in Fort Collins has historically taken the form of white men of means, but that did not stop local Hispanic leaders from challenging those trends and making changes to improve their neighborhood community. Whether through political, religious, or social avenues, local Hispanic residents during the 1950s through the 1980s were consistently advocating for change. They created a safer and stronger community through their work and helped build the resiliency of the entire community.

William Lopez took the founding principles of the nation to heart when he stepped into the political sphere. In 1969, during his campaign for Fort Collins City Council, Lopez claimed that “the Spanish-speaking people of Fort Collins are interested in being represented on the council” and he wanted to be that representative.  Lopez achieved this goal and served his community in many ways. In his time serving on the city council, Lopez advocated for and saw through the connection of the Alta Vista, Andersonville, and Buckingham neighborhoods to the Fort Collins utility services.  This was no small feat, and it is one that many residents still feel the impact of. He also spoke publicly about the concerns regarding discrimination, describing it as “the covert type, which, though less easily seen, is as deadly as the other [overt type of discrimination seen in the South].”  His openness regarding this subject allowed for others to speak on such concerns and grow the strength of these voices. Lopez worked in 1970 alongside Reverend William Griffen from Chicago who spoke of the experiences on a national level and racism felt by the black community.  Lopez’s advocacy and actions left a legacy in Fort Collins. The Poudre School District named Lopez Elementary School in his honor following his death. Board member Louis Brown justified their decision by stating that “he work[ed] hard and grew up in a segregated society…In a quiet an effective manner, he helped erase [the white trade only signs].”  William Lopez worked hard through political action to amplify the voices of the Hispanic community and make visible progress for those experiencing discrimination.

Juan Fullana created spaces for gathering and cared for the community as the leader of Holy Family Church. Fullana resided in Fort Collins for fifteen years, and during that time he provided many services to the Hispanic residents by supervising “a parish grocery store and a mop factory, utilizing [Holy Family Church’s] profits to finance the construction of Holy Family Recreation Hall”, and serving as the pastor for the church congregation.  Many community members remembered the impact he had on their personal lives as well as the greater Hispanic community in Fort Collins. Daniel Martinez stated that Fullana’s grocery store and mop factory “provided employment for members of the community and financial support for the recreation center” and school.  No matter what he did, his actions were in service of the community and in building their acceptance and confidence. Daniel Martinez remembered the pastor and his relationship with who he called “nuestra gente”:

“Nuestra gente” were second class citizens, but he encouraged us to love America, for he believed that America would soon learn to love us, because “nuestra gente” are loveable people. He believed that we would “conquistar” the affection of the Americano, because to know us was to love us. 

His impact extended beyond the Holy Family Church, but he helped increase access to community resources as well. Eva Martinez remembered Father Fullana organizing movies in Spanish at a local theater.  Inez Romero recalled his economic support of the community through employment. She recalled that “he was the first [priest]…that would try to do something like that for people” when he opened the mop factory “that was for people who had a hard time finding a job.”  Not only did Juan Fullana support the ll