DRIVE-THRU / CURBSIDE PICKUP

Passwords are now required to access your account. To create a password, select "Reset my Password" from the Login screen (email address required). For further assistance, please visit the Library Account Passwords FAQ page for instructions or call the library at 970-243-4442.

The Central Library will be closed March 31 for Easter Sunday. View all holiday closures.


Showing 1 - 6 of 6 , query time: 0.01s
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Mesa County, Colorado resident Henry Spomer describes growing up in a German settlement in Russia, including home life, farm practices, schooling, and the Lutheran Church. He talks about moving to Nebraska in his teenage years to escape looming military placement during the Russian Revolution, and eventually moving to Mesa County, where he worked as a beet farmer, railroad employee, and janitor for the Lowell School. The interview was conducted by...
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Edward Schultz talks about his childhood in a German settlement in Russia and the family’s subsequent flight from the country in the face of persecution against Germans. He remembers immigrant and family life in a German community in Kansas, where they settled after immigrating to the United States. He discusses his brief career as a machinist for the railroad in Kansas. He recalls leaving home at sixteen and meeting his future wife in Mack, Colorado,...
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Bertha Schlegel discusses growing up in Loma, Colorado and helping her family raise beets for Holly Sugar, and making sauerkraut, pickled apples, pickled watermelon and other ethnic food with her mother, who was a German immigrant from Russia. She also remembers her education and school activities throughout her childhood, including field days at the Fruita Central School and Grand Junction High School. She talks about obtaining a teaching degree,...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Mary talks about her early childhood in Kansas as one of nine children and her family's move to Colorado upon the death of her father. Mary details the train and its passengers during the move, including Russian immigrants coming to work the beet fields, and her mother's outreach. She mentions her mothers career training riding horses as a way to support the family. She talks about her relationships, children, and the struggle she faced trying to...
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Earl Land talks about the arrival of his German parents in the United States, their lives in Russia prior to relocating, and their lives in the United States after immigrating. He recalls his early life in Colorado and the West and his education as a mining engineer. He remembers his service as a 2nd Lieutenant in an aviation engineer battalion in the US Army during World War II. He speaks in general about the history of Germans from Russia in the...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Marie Spomer describes her younger years living in a German settlement in Russia, including homemaking tasks and funeral ceremonies. Marie also recalls what it was like moving to America, the jobs she took on after leaving school, meeting her husband, and moving to Mesa County to work on a sugar beet farm. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado....