DENVER — Sitting near the Auraria campus in downtown Denver, Angel Vigil can’t help but think about what that neighborhood once looked like.
“I see the remnants, the historical memories of a powerful community that once was here,” he says while admiring the architecture of the three college universities around him. “There used to be families here.”
Among those families was his own.
Vigil’s grandfather came from a Hispanic family. His grandmother’s family was from Italy. Neither side would allow them to be together, so they came to Denver and got married in 1917.
“They were a Romeo and Juliet couple. They were literally exiled from Albuquerque,” Vigil explains.
Leandro Vigil and Juanita Rossi lived in the upstairs apartment of a house on Stout Street. That house isn’t there today.
“I like to stand in the very spot and say, ‘my grandparents used to live right here,’ and now there’s a university classroom right in this spot, right here,” Vigil says.
His family’s story is one of several History Colorado has collected as part of its initiative, “We Are Colorado,” which began in spring. The museum is collecting submissions and oral histories from individuals to highlight Colorado’s diversity, and they particularly want to hear from people who live in underrepresented communities.
Vigil is a fourth-generation Coloradan who wants to share how his family’s story began.
“One hundred years ago, my grandparents walked these streets. One hundred years later, their grandson – me -- I walk these streets again telling their story, their love story,” he told 9NEWS. "I hope that one day, years from now, someone’s interested in my time."
Anyone is welcome to submit stories and pictures. Find information about how to share your own family’s history here.
