WILLIAM H. (HENRY) BLAZON. Born 1942.
TRANSCRIPT of OH 1877V
This interview was recorded on August 3, 2013, for the Boulder County Latino History
Project and the Maria Rogers Oral History Program. The interviewer is Jaime Rios. The
interview also is available in video format, filmed by Joaquin Rios. The interview was
transcribed by Jerry Ohrt.
ABSTRACT: William (“Hank”) Blazon was born in Longmont, Colorado, in 1942 to a
farming family. His father came to Longmont in 1927 from Avondale, Colorado, where
he was born, and did various kinds of work, including owning a pool hall; In 1942, he
bought a farm near Mead. Hank relates stories of his father being harassed by police and
his uncles being refused service at a Longmont restaurant due to their being Latino, in
spite of having served in the military during the Korean War. Hank graduated from
Mead High School, was trained in electronics and as a machinist; worked for Beech
Aircraft, Rocky Flats, and IBM. He tells of family traditions and also discusses changes
for Latinos in Longmont that were brought about by affirmative action and the efforts of
the Chicano movement and the 1980 murder of two young men and how it led to the
formation of El Comitè.
NOTE: The interviewer’s questions and comments appear in parentheses. Added
material appears in brackets.
[A].
00:00 (Today is Saturday, August 3, shortly after 1 p.m. My name is Jaime Rios. I will
be interviewing Hank Blazon at his house. He’s going to give us a little bit of history
about Longmont and the Boulder area. This interview is being recorded for the Boulder
County Latino History Project and the Maria Rogers Oral History Program. The
interview is being filmed by Joaquin Rios.)
(First question, tell us a little bit about when and where you were born.)
I was born in Longmont, Colorado,1942. At my grandma’s house
(And what was your father’s name and when and when was he born?)
Lee Blazon, and he was born in Avondale, Colorado, which is by Pueblo, in 1906.
(And what was your father like as a person?)
Well, he was strict. Very, I felt—he had a fourth grade education, but I felt he was far
beyond that, I mean, he bought businesses in town when he moved to Longmont in
1930’s he moved to Longmont and worked on a farm, they moved up here to work on a
farm. He did farm work and then, leased a pool hall in Longmont and ran that for about
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 1 of 12
three or four years. And then they used to—he used to have Chicano dances at the
Roosevelt Park, and he did that for a couple years and then he also owned a business in
Denver, a little grocery store, for a year-and-a-half or so. he bought 80 acres out by
Mead, bought a farm, and I think he moved out here in 1944. So he was, for a man with a
fourth-grade education, he was pretty sharp.
(How many acres did he have?)
Eighty-one, 81 acres he bought, and then he farmed that and had, well, there was eight in
the family, six boys and two girls, so we all worked on the farm, all the boys; thinning
beets, putting hay up, milking cows, whatever. And then he also leased 250 acres just
right out of Mead, so he farmed both places.
(And what was your mother’s name, and when and where was she born?)
She was born in Mead and her name is Francis Blazon—Cortez Blazon. She was also
just—was a homemaker, I guess, she helped Dad on the farm and they met got married in
1934.
(When and where did your parents actually meet?”)
They met in Longmont and my dad moved up from Avondale in 1927. And they kind of
knew the families, I guess from down there and they dated and they got married, in ’34.
(Did you have any interaction with your grandparents?)
Yeah, we used to, after we moved out here. My dad also worked on Saturdays at a stock
yard—they used to sell cattle, horses, pigs, whatever—and he worked that. And we used
to go into Grandma’s, who lived in Longmont and just hung out there while he was at the
sale yards. A lot of times—my grandparents raised some of my cousins—their mother
passed away early—so we used to go and hang out with them and there was an old—I
think it was a welding shop, a machine shop—had a little bit of everything, more a
blacksmith type thing. We used to go there, with our little wagons and pick up the scraps
and take [them] to the—there was a—just down the road, the street there, there was a
junk man, Max Pitter was his name. We used to sell the iron as scrap and then, it just
seemed like no matter how much we took, the gentleman there would give us all enough
to—he knew we wanted to go to the show that Saturday afternoon. So if there were four
of us he’d give a dollar cause it would cost a quarter to get in the show at that time. And
if there were six of us, he’d give enough to go, for all six of us, no matter how much
scrap we took, so he was a real good guy.
And then my grandma used to, of course, bake. She liked to bake bread and tortillas and
we’d just hang out there, and hang out with them while my dad was working.
05:53 (Were your grandparents also born in the area?)
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 2 of 12
Grandparents were born in Walsenburg, Colorado, on my mother’s side and on my dad’s
side they were born in Avondale, Colorado.
(You mentioned you had eight siblings I believe; how many brothers and sisters?)
Eight, there were six boys and two girls.
(Were any of your earlier relatives American Indians or English-speaking Anglos?)
Well, my grandmother—on my mother’s side—my grandmother was, I think she was
quarter Indian-Sioux, Sioux Indian. They talked Spanish, I mean they were more
Mexicano.
(Do your roots in the—family roots in the U.S.—go back as far as you can remember? Is
there a point in history when anybody might have come over from Mexico or anything?)
Not that I’m aware of. My—on my dad’s side, my grandma lived to be 100, and she was
born in Avondale and from there I don’t know where her parents came from. I’m like
fourth generation so—
(What were the some of the values that were important in your family when you were
growing up?)
Well, my parents were real strict, and they wanted us to do good in school. My sister
went to beauty school and my two older brothers joined the Navy, and then I went on to
school, to electronics school in Denver. Then after that I went to work at Rocky Flats. I
served a four-year apprenticeship there, a machinist apprenticeship. So they were, they
motivated us to better ourselves, I guess.
(Do you speak both English and Spanish in the home or was it mostly English or—?)
Mostly English, here. My dad, I guess when my dad and my mom grew up, when they
went to school, they—the teachers would get mad at them if they, you know, talked
Spanish and stuff, so they didn’t want—and as the years went by, they were sorry that
they didn’t teach us Spanish. I can understand quite a bit but to carry a conversation I,
you know, it’s kind of hard. But they just kind of talked English at the house because
they didn’t want their children to suffer the consequences that they did. Although when
we were being at our grandmother’s and grandfather’s they talked Spanish all the time.
They were proud of who they were.
(That leads us to the next question, did your parents take pride in their Latino heritage
and tell you stories about the family’s past?)
Yeah, I think they were very proud, and my dad, even though—it’s funny because he tells
a story about—he only went to the fourth grade—he says “I went a lot of years but I only
went to fourth grade,” and he said that—this was down in Avondale—he said he was
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 3 of 12
probably 15, 16 years old already, and the school down there, the high school, used to go
get him out of the fields to play baseball—he was a good baseball player—so they used
to go and pick him up and have him play, play for the high school, even though he wasn’t
even in school; he only had a fourth grade education.
10:09 But, I don’t know—they were very proud of who they were I guess, and my dad
was very— he took care of his money, saved and bought the farm. I mean, he was—
everybody around here that, when I was growing up, all our neighbors were leasing the
farms, and I don’t know of anybody else that really owned the place. Everybody else
leased.
(As a child were boys treated any differently from girls in your household in any way?)
Well, (laughs) no—I don’t think so, I think we all were respected—course the boys had
to get out and work in the fields and stuff, and I guess the girls more or less just stood at
home and, you know, cooked or whatever and got our meals ready and stuff. Although I
think my oldest sister probably had to get out in the field a little bit, not as much as we
did, but she was also out in the fields and helped. I remember, when my dad was first out
here, he farmed with horses, and I remember one time, and I can’t recall what exactly we
were doing, but one of the work horses stepped on her foot and she was screaming and
hollering and we finally got it off there, but it was kind of funny. And she was a cry-baby
anyway, so—
(You’ve talked a little bit about education. What education have you had?)
I graduated from Mead High School, 1960, and then from there I went to National
Electronics School in Denver and got a certificate from there. And at that time I couldn’t
get any real work in that field, so I went to work for this Denver innerspring company
where my brother was working—he got me on—and I worked there for a couple years.
And then I went on to Beech Aircraft, worked there like three years, and from there I
went to Rocky Flats, and I served a four-year apprenticeship—machinist
apprenticeship—there, and in 1974 I went to IMB in their machine maintenance and took
classes there. IBM offered whatever we wanted to take, so I’ve had a high school
education, National Electronics Institution, and four-year apprenticeship for a machinist.
(How was school when you were young—how do you feel about school? What was good
and not good about it?)
Well, you know—I went all twelve years here in Mead and probably 85 percent of the
people who started in the first grade graduated with me; we all went together all twelve
years, and most of them were Anglos. I think when I graduated there was just myself and
maybe two other girls who graduated—Mexicanas—the rest were Anglos so, and they
treated us—I’m sure there was some discrimination, but I guess it didn’t really come out
that way, but I’m sure that there were times when they said, “Who’s that little Mexican,”
or whatever, behind my back or whatever.
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 4 of 12
(Do you ever hear relatives talk about how the Great Depression affected them during
that period?)
Yeah, my dad has talked about the Depression and when he came up from Avondale, he
worked on the farm, like I said, and then during the Depression my grandparents and my
dad and his family actually worked just for housing and food. The farmer told him “I
can’t pay you people, but I can give you the housing, I can give you the food, until things
turn around, and then we can make it up.” So I’m sure that was quite an experience for
them. But other than that I don’t know any other stories about the Depression, other than
what my dad had told us.
15:21 (Did anyone ever talk about anti-Mexican events in the early ’30s, like the Ku Klux
Klan or deportations?)
My father had mentioned that there was Ku Klux Klan in Longmont, I guess, I don’t
know if it was one of their main headquarters, or whatever, and they lived—my older
brothers have told me too, that where we lived—my dad had ten acres there, just off of
Rothrock [?] I think that was the name of the street. Anyway, he said just across the road
was where the Ku Klux Klan’s headquarters were. But my brothers don’t really
remember a lot of it; all’s they know is them being there, but no incidents that they’ve
heard of.
The other story that my dad has told me, in 1935 or whenever, when he had the pool hall,
he said that—and my dad was very light-complected, almost—he had green eyes and
_____ almost, and he said that, when he had the pool hall there, he says that for no reason
at all, his car was parked out in front on the street, and the cops came and ripped
everything out, I guess to see if he had drugs or whatever, you know, just because he was
Mexicano. He said they just tore the seats out and everything, just left it like that. They
didn’t arrest him or nothing, but they didn’t put it back together either.
(Tell us a little about that pool hall.)
You know, I wasn’t even born, so I don’t know that much about it. The only thing my
dad has said—the reason he gave it up it, he had it for, like I said, for four or five years,
and he said he made some money off of it, he says, but he just—after you’re running it,
and he says after your compadres and your friends and all that, he says, they want credit.
And he says, “I can give some credit, and then pretty soon they wouldn’t pay me.” So he
said, “I just got tired of them not coming up with money and me getting stuck. And he
says, “The borracheras would come in and get all drunk and, you know, get crazy.” So
he says, “I just got tired of it, so I ended up selling it.” And that’s when he bought the
farm.
(Shifting gears a little bit to spouses—in what settings did young men and women
socialize together when you were young?)
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 5 of 12
Well, probably in high school, high school dances, football games, we were all—you
know, athletic activities, basketball, baseball, then—just dance I guess, and socializing;
go to the movies. Not too often because back then we used to go to the drive-ins
(chuckles).
(Tell us a little about your spouse, her name, where she was born, how you guys met.)
Her name is Esther Delgado Blazon, we met in high school, got married in 1961. She was
born in Sterling, Colorado. We got married in Fort Lupton, Colorado. Seven-’61.
I have three children. My boy is fifty two—three –two—how old is he? What? Fifty-one?
Fifty-one and he’s the manager of George C. Sanders, it’s a plumbing outfit, and they
distribute plumbing stuff for commercial, and he runs the store in Louisville ,Colorado.
Been doing that for, I think he’s there ten years now.
And then my daughters went to Rangley Community College and got an Associate’s
Degree, and one works at—she worked for the City of Boulder for twenty-some years
and got laid-off so she went back to school and got a degree in billing and—coding and
billing for medical, so she works she works for an outfit in Louisville, also, Colorado ,
and I don’t know the name of it. My other daughter worked for AT&T. And that’s about
it, I guess.
(So what is your work history—what kind of work have you done in the past—are you
doing anything now?)
Like I said, when I got out of high school, I went and lived in Denver with my
grandmother and went to school, and they got us a part-time job, I was just doing stock
work, just while I was going to school. And after that I went to work for Denver
Innersprings and all’s we did was made springs for mattress beds, bedding. And then I
went on to Beech Aircraft and did sheet metal work there, assembling air craft, and then I
went to Rocky Flats and served an apprenticeship as a machinist there. Then from there I
went to IBM. IBM was a very good company; started out, as I said, in their machine
maintenance, and then I went into the labs and did work in the labs, and then after, I
forget what year, anyway they stopped all manufacturing in Boulder, so we had to retrain,
and I went into scheduling and did computer work and stuff.
Now I’m retired. I worked twenty-four years at IBM and retired when I was fifty-five and
did some contract report for Q-West [?], and then I also did some contract work for my
brother. He worked at the refinery in Commerce City, so I did contract work for them for
about six months, and what I did was revised all their maintenance procedures and put
them into the computer; they were just all on book, so they wanted them on the computer
so they could look up on the computer instead of having going to the book, their manuals,
so I updated all that and input all that for them.
22:41 And since then I just been retired, enjoying life.
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 6 of 12
(Have you or anyone in your family ever served in the military?)
My two brothers went to the navy, my two older brothers served four years in the navy,
but other than that, my father never went in, just the two brothers. My uncles, a couple of
my uncles, were in the army, the Korean War, and I think that’s about it.
(Do you have any grandchildren?)
Yes, we have six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Very proud of them.
(Any type of family traditions to tell about?
We have, ah, after my parents both passed away, they had the santo [?], and they used to
keep it, and my folks were very religious Catholics. And after they passed away, after my
dad passed away, we took it, and we rotated between the family members, my brother
and sisters, every three months—we’d keep it for three months and then pass it on to the
next—so that’s one thing we do.
And then we have the Fourth of July which my dad—like I said, my dad used to have his
brothers and sisters over, and we’d barbeque a pig or a—back then it was either a goat or
a lamb or something. And then, after my dad stopped, and my brother and I—well, the
whole family actually, but we had it at my brother who lives next door, and him and I
used to roast a pig and we’d have people over and that probably went for ten years. We
didn’t do it last year, but my niece has taken over, so she’s starting the tradition to
continue the barbeque on the Fourth of July. And we’ve had up to 250 people here at one
time.
And then the other thing I started was a golf tournament. One of my nephews—they take
two baseball teams from Colorado to Australia every year, and he made one of the teams.
So he had to raise so much money, so I said “Let’s do a tournament, you know, a golf
tournament.” At the time he was working at Haystack Golf Course there in Boulder. So
we organized that and the ladies, all the wives, made burritos and stuff, and they sold
burritos and stuff at the tournament, and then we had a little pitching game, which put in
five bucks, whoever wanted. So we raised money for him to go on to Australia to play
baseball, and then we just continued—we’ve had our 20th golf tournament last year, and
money has went from the grandkids to go to trips to Washington through the school. One
of my granddaughters went to France through the school, and she needed money. And
then just for—I have a nephew who was paralyzed from his waist down so we helped
with the medical expense and just donated to my brother to help out with that. So [the
money raised] just went toward medical, education, that’s about it I guess.
(I would guess golf is a hobby—any other hobbies to talk about?)
Well, my hobby was—my dad had bought a new tractor in 1949, and when he retired he
gave it to one of my cousins and he used it for—I don’t know how long—and when I
moved out here in 2000, my cousin called me and asked me if I wanted it. He says “I
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 7 of 12
haven’t ran it for ten years, it’s been sitting in the shed” and then he says “I don’t know if
it runs or whatever.”
And I says, “Well, maybe that will be a project I can just tinker around with, play with.
So anyway, I went and got it and brought it to my house and took all the spark plugs out
and put a little oil in it, cranked it over by hand and everything was free, so got a battery
and we started it up. And it started. Course all the wiring and clutch was out on it, the
brakes and everything. And so anyway, I re-wired everything, restored it and had it
painted. And so that’s one of the hobbies that’s something for me to do, enjoy doing it in
the evenings or days when I’m not doing nothing, just hanging out in the garage,
something to do. So I enjoy that.
Fishin—we love to go fishing, camping with the kids.
[pause]
Also, there’s a group of us from IBM, we get together once a month, just go have
breakfast in Johnstown and most of them are widows that go—they’re just real good
buddies, and so we just go over there and lie to each other, have a good time, you know,
and see who’s ailing and whose got sick and whose doing this and then—our golf—we
get together, we play Monday and Wednesdays—Monday and Fridays—they’re all
Chicanos, that I golf with, so we get together a couple times a week for that, just have a
good time.
(Were your grandparents also farmers? Is there a long history of farming in your
family?)
They were more farm hands, they all worked, when they were in Walsenberg and
Avondale, they worked on the farm, then when they moved up here, my grandfather
Cortez, Joe Cortez, worked in the mines a little bit, worked for the Great Western Sugar
Company in Longmont and then—but mostly on the farms. And then when he retired
they bought their place—well, when they came to Longmont they moved to 210 3rd
Avenue, and that’s the only place I ever known that they lived. And they eventually they
bought the place there and so they lived there. And right now it’s the old—where the
OUR Center is, the houses were tore down, but my grandma and my uncle lived right
next to them.
(So you had some family, sounds like, working some of the popular fields around it, did
you also have anyone that were doing the canneries or food processing plants or turkey
plant?)
My mother-in-law worked at the turkey plant for several years, quite a while, I don’t
know how long, but she worked at the turkey plant in Longmont for quite a few years.
(She ever say what that was like?)
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 8 of 12
It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t an easy job. It was hard. Mostly Mexicanos work there, and it
wasn’t easy work, it was very difficult.
(This was a question from a little bit before your time or when you were very young, but
do you have any, did you see how World War II or the Korean War affected the
community any?)
Well you know, I think the Korean War, a couple of my uncles came back from that, and
they just talked—not a lot—but some about the hassle they went through in Longmont,
and I don’t know if it was my uncle or, he was the one who was telling me about it, I
don’t know if he was involved, but anyway they had went to a restaurant and they
wouldn’t serve them, but they wouldn’t leave until they actually served them. I guess
they had called the police on them, and they says “Hey we went to war, we went for our
country, and we’re not leaving here until we’re served.” So they eventually did serve
them, but—so, they went through some times, I’m sure, that were very difficult.
(If someone asks you to describe your ethnicity or race, what words would you use, like
Spanish, Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Hispanic?)
Probably Chicano, I guess, for myself.
(Do you think your parents would have used the same word to describe themselves?)
No, they would probably more describe themselves as Latinos, Mexicanos.
(What role does church play in your life?)
It’s very important to us, we go to St John’s Catholic Church in Longmont. I wouldn’t
say I’m totally involved in any of their functions or what have you, but we are Catholics
and we attend church every Sunday, with my brothers and my sister and her husband and
my boy and his family goes, so we all get together and after mass we go have breakfast or
whatever. So, my sister’s very involved in the church itself. She does Meals on Wheels
through the church and Food Bank, that type of stuff.
(Have you been involved in politics at all, at any point?)
No, not really. I don’t know if you consider it politics, but I served on the Head Start
Board of Directors in the’60s, when Head Start started up, and then I served on the Little
League Board of Directors, but as far as actual politics, per se, I guess I wasn’t really
involved in that, other than trying to get people to vote, or stuff like that, but to really get
involved with the city council or something like that, no.
(Do any politicians or political events stick out to you from when you were growing up?)
Well, I think Benny Rodriguez [Benjamin “Benny” Rodriguez, Longmont’s first
Hispanic city councilperson] was a big influence on a lot of the people there in
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Longmont, he sat on the city council and he was a businessman, had his own body and
fender shop in Longmont for years, in fact I think his boys took it over, he’s since passed.
But I know my brother worked part-time there when he was in high school and had an
influence on him. He actually restored a 1955 Chevy, which is really, really a beautiful
little car, he still has [it], and he learned that from Benny. My cousin worked for him, and
several—a couple of my cousins—one of them has his own business—and there’s several
other Mexicanos that work for Ben that started their own body and fender places there in
town—Casey Najera and his brother Tony—they started their own body and fender, and
it was through the help of Benny, Benny Rodriguez.
(What do you think are the beauties and positive features of Hispanic culture today?)
I think it’s the music, just the (pause)—you know, I think we, as a group get together as
a familia, the familia gets together and celebrates , whether it’s a birthday, anniversary
or—but there’s always some activity going on that the Mexicanos get together and enjoy
each other, I think.
(Do you think there are any draw-backs?)
Yeah, I’m sure there is, I’m sure there’s still discrimination, but I also feel that in the ‘60s
and ‘70s when Affirmative Action got started and has helped the younger generation
become more aware of how to go about searching for jobs, education. And Affirmative
Action has them get a better education and better jobs.
(Do you remember a time when you were helped by an Anglo employer or landlord or
someone in a position of power, or when a business owner treated you as an equal in
good ways?)
I think when I was at Rocky Flats, my supervisor, who was Anglo, recommended me to
go into, to get my apprenticeship, so I think that was a big part, and then at IBM I had
some supervisors that advised me or helped me advance at the company.
(Were you involved or affected any by the Chicano movement of the late ‘60s and ‘70s?)
I don’t know if I was involved, but yes, I think all the Chicanos were helped by the
movement, and I wasn’t really active, I guess, but I know for a fact that it helped La Raza
to better themselves in getting jobs. I don’t think, if it wasn’t for that, IMB would have
hired us. When I hired on in 1974, I know prior to that there was very few Mexicanos that
worked there, and like in ’72, ’73, ’74 in management positions there was maybe four or
five in management positions, and through that, by 19—I’m guessing the ‘80s, I’m sure
there was over 34 managers, Mexicanos. So I’m sure that Affirmative Action had
influenced them to become managers. And IBM, I’m sure, felt the pressure to promote
Mexicanos.
40:51 (Do you remember the shooting of two young Latinos in Longmont in 1980 and
the founding of El Comité?
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 10 of 12
Yeah, I remember there was a lot of tension when it happened. [pause] [Jeffrey] Cordova
was killed and there was just a lot of tension and I think the people that got involved
through El Comité—Committee—kind of kept the tension down to manageable, cause I
can recall we marched on the city hall, and it was a peaceful march, and I think that was a
part of El Comité that caused that, kept everybody calm and kept from rioting I guess, but
it was a crazy thing. The cop that shot ‘em ended up resigning—I don’t think they ever
did convict him for any false shooting or anything, but it ended up that he had to resign
and I’m sure through that there was—through El Comité, they’ve got relationships with
the cops, with the city council, with the town of Longmont to be more sensitive to the
Chicano needs.
(Do you think there is discrimination in Boulder County still today of any type?)
Oh, I’m sure there is, I think it’s more subtle now than it was in the ‘60s and ‘70s but I’m
sure there’s still discrimination, whether it be black, Chicano, I’m sure they still have it.
(Do you think that the presidential elections of 2008 and 2012, especially the
involvement of young people in those campaigns will make a lasting difference to the
Latino participation in politics?)
I think so, and I truly hope so. I hope more Latinos get involved in politics, whether
you’re Democrat or Republican or whatever, that they’re more involved and have more
say as to who is elected or why are they elected.
43:54
(What types of other changes have you seen in the Latino community in the area?)
Well, you know, when I was young you could go uptown and you would never see a
Mexican restaurant or a business, Mexican business, or anything, and now, you drive up
Longmont and my gosh, there’s more Mexicano restaurants and businesses, which is
good. But shoot, in the ‘50s and ‘60s when I was running around over there, you just
didn’t see any Mexicanos with businesses; very few—like Benny Rodriguez, I don’t
know when he started his, but he was probably one of the first. And the other gentleman
that I can remember was a barber shop, Mexicano, George Martinez had a barber shop in
town and he was there forever. But other than that you just didn’t see any Mexican
restaurants or nothing until the ‘80s I guess.
(How do you feel Latinos have contributed to the history of Boulder County?)
They’ve contributed a lot, whether it’s through the working of the fields, working in the
mines, around Lafayette, Erie. I know my nephews and nieces have went on to school
and got an education, and now they’re, hopefully they’re contributing back to the
community through their education.
45:49
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 11 of 12
(Fifty to 100 years from now what would you like people to know about Boulder County
today?)
That’s a good question. [pause] Well, I would hope that the Mexicano or black or
whatever could just walk down the street and be recognized as an American citizen and
not have any hassle about worrying about being deported or whatever, I would hope that
would make the change.
(We’ve covered a lot of things, any other points of interest or family stories that you’d
like to share before we close?)
I think we’ve covered ’bout everything that I have. I think we went over the Fourth of
July that we’ve done and the golf tournaments [pause]. My dad, like I said, even though
he had a fourth grade education, I felt he was, he could work in here on the farm and he
could tear apart a piece of equipment and put it back together, and to me he was an
engineer.
47:19
(We thank you very much for your time and for talking with us, and your comments are
going to help describe the history of Hispanics in Boulder County. Thank you.)
Thank you.
47:30
[End of interview]
[Additional footage is included on the video of Hank Blazon showing some items that he
discussed in the interview]
OH 1877V, William H. (Henry) Blazon, page 12 of 12