Los que viven en nuestra memoria nunca mueren.
Those who live in our memory never die.
The Cline Library is pleased to present a new exhibit entitled Los Recuerdos del Barrio en Flagstaff. This exhibit celebrates many years of partnership between Northern Arizona University Cline Library and Flagstaff's Basque, Spanish, Mexican, and Mexican American families. In 1997, with the encouragement of Hispanic community leaders, local scholars, and NAU historians, Delia Ceballos Muñoz, a life-time Flagstaff resident and well-respected community member, began conducting oral history interviews with local families.
The Los Recuerdos del Barrio en Flagstaff project evolved from Delia's efforts to collect family stories, photographs, and memorabilia. Families graciously donated original archival materials to Cline Library or loaned items for copying. Delia's desire to share the lives of her neighbors became an ongoing labor of love, and the current collection includes over forty families. The oral memoirs document family journeys to northern Arizona, as well as daily life, work, and special occasions.
First and foremost, I would like to give an enormous thank you to the community for making this exhibit entitled Los Recuerdos del Barrio en Flagstaff possible. Without your stories, we could not communicate and record the contributions of Spanish, Basque, Mexican and Mexican-American residents to northern Arizona. You shared your time and your homes along with your stories. This project has allowed me to pursue a love for listening to the past, and, as the granddaughter and daughter of the Reymundo Ceballos and Remedio Sanchez families who migrated here in the early 1900s, it has been a pleasure to hear your remembrances.
Delia Ceballos Muñoz
NAU Cline Library
January 2007