Item NumberPPLDoh-i-12b_sideATime Coverageca. 1880-1976Date Interview7/7/1976DescriptionPart one of an oral history interview with Helen Eurich, of Calhan, Colorado. Mrs. Eurich talks about her parents coming from Czechoslovakia to the United States, first to Pennsylvania, then Pueblo, Colorado, where her father worked at the smelter, before homesteading near Calhan. The family raised potatos, which they had to transport to Pueblo to sell. She talks about the migration of Slovak families to Pennsylvania and then to Colorado, where many settled north of Calhan. She talks about life on the farm when she was young, the food that they raised, and how times have changed. The family grew potatos, watermelons, pinto beans, and other crops. She says it rained a lot more when she was a child so the people were able to grow abundant gardens. She also talks about the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and the hard times it caused for the farmers, many of whom took work with the WPA (Works Progress Administration). She says that at the time of the interview, 1976, times had gotten very hard for farmers in the area and many were having to look for work elsewhere. She discusses the roles and responsibilities of farm women. Then she talks about entertainment and social customs of the Calhan area during the 1920s and 1930s. She spends a good deal of time describing some of the social customs and traditional foods of the Slovak families of the Calhan area.NarratorEurich, Helen, 1906-1992InterviewerTeeuwen, RandallGeographic CoverageCalhan (Colo.)El Paso County (Colo.)Great PlainsSubjectCzech Americans--Social life and customsFarm lifeDust Bowl Era, 1931-1939CollectionColorado Centennial - Bicentennial Oral History ProjectOral HistoriesLanguageenPublisherPikes Peak Library DistrictRightshttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/Original Format1/4-inch reel-to-reel audio tape
