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Juan Federico "Freddie Freak" Miguel Arguello Trujillo Chicano Movement Collection

Overview

Abstract

Scope and Contents

Administrative Information

Detailed Description

Publications, Newspapers, and Periodicals

Audiovisual Materials

Coors Boycott

Ephemera



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Juan Federico "Freddie Freak" Miguel Arguello Trujillo Chicano Movement Collection, 1965-2009 | Colorado State University-Pueblo Library

By Reyes Martinez Lopez, Jose Antonio Ortega and Paul Valdez

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Collection Overview

Title: Juan Federico "Freddie Freak" Miguel Arguello Trujillo Chicano Movement Collection, 1965-2009Add to your cart.View associated digital content.

Primary Creator: Juan Federico Miguel Arguello Trujillo

Extent: 25.0 Cubic Feet

Arrangement:

The records are arranged into four series, as follows:

Series 1,  Publications, newspapers and periodicals, 1965-1994

Series 2,  Audiovisual materials, 1970s-1990s

Series 3,  Coors boycott, 1970-2000

Series 4, Ephemera, 1975-2008

Subjects: Chicano Movement -- Colorado., Chicano Movement -- United States, Hispanic Americans -- Civil Rights -- Colorado, Mexican Americans -- Civil Rights - Colorado, Pueblo (Colo.) -- History -- 20th century, United Mexican American Students (University of Colorado-Boulder)

Forms of Material: Audiovisual materials, Newspapers, Photographs

Languages: English, Spanish;Castilian

Abstract

The Juan Federico “Freddie Freak” Miguel Arguello Trujillo Chicano Movement Collection contains audio, visual, and printed material related to the Mexicano peoples’ struggle against racism and discrimination in Colorado. The archives compiled by Trujillo chronicles his participation in the Chicano Movement as chairman of the Aztlán Boycott Coors Committee; activities of the United Mexican American Students (UMAS) organization on the University of Colorado-Boulder campus; the short-lived electoral campaigns of el Partido de La Raza Unida; United Farm Workers union organizing efforts; and the events surrounding the deaths of Ricardo Falcón and Los Seis de Boulder. Material in the collection spans five decades, from 1965 through the present.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The collection compiled by Juan Federico “Freddie Freak” Miguel Arguello Trujillo contains materials relating to the Chicano Movement in Colorado. This includes: alternative press publications, photographic slides, audio and video recordings of poetry recitals, speeches at political demonstrations, as well as teatro and musical performances, unpublished manuscripts collected by Trujillo, and other memorabilia related to the Chicano Movement in Colorado. The collection is divided into four series.  They include Series 1, Publications, newspapers and periodicals, 1965-1994; Series 2,  Audiovisual materials, 1970s-1990s; Series 3,  Coors boycott, 1970-2000; and Series 4, Ephemera, 1975-2008.

Collection Historical Note

Given the name Juan Federico Miguel Arguello Trujillo at birth, “Freddie Freak” acquired his colorful moniker as a result of his deep involvement in the hippie counterculture which gained prominence in the United States during the 1960s Vietnam War era.

Trujillo was born in 1938 in the southern Colorado town of Trinidad, the son of Juan Federico Trujillo, a coal miner who died three months before Freddie was born. Trujillo’s mother, Clorinda Arguello, whose family moved to southern Colorado from the northern New Mexico settlement of Santuario de Chimayó, had lost her hearing during her adolescence due to a botched medical procedure. His mother’s disability and the death of his father made for a tough beginning for Trujillo, but it also instilled in him a strong independent streak. When Freddie was seven years old the Trujillo family made the move north to Denver and a life in the historic Five Points area of the city. Trujillo’s older half-sister was employed as a barmaid at a lounge on Larimer Street, and Freddie began shining shoes and selling newspapers to help earn extra money for the family. Trujillo proved to be adept at the type of street hustling that thrived down on Larimer Street during the 1950s post-World War II era and, while still only a teenager, he managed to furnish his mother’s two-bedroom house, complete with living room furniture, kitchen appliances, and even a washing machine. But by the time he was sixteen, Trujillo had also dropped out of school, and he had acquired a taste for alcohol which would plague him well into the future.

Following a marriage and the births of three children, Trujillo’s personal life began to unravel, and his liquor consumption brought him to the brink of mental and physical collapse. In 1965, Trujillo checked himself into the Fort Logan Mental Health Center, and after 18 weeks of intensive 24 hour a day treatment, he emerged feeling as though he had been awarded a new lease on life. After Trujillo was released, counselors at the rehabilitation center where he went through his convalescence helped to get Freddie enrolled in a job placement program and he was trained in the arts of printing and color separation. When he was offered the opportunity to compete for a job working for Pruitt Press &Publishing, a company located in Boulder, Colorado which specialized in the printing of Christmas cards, Trujillo jumped at the chance to go live and work in the cultural center that Boulder was rapidly developing into. It was in Boulder where Trujillo would acquire the unique style of dress and mannerisms for which he would become known. Though he enjoyed the work of a printer, Trujillo was disturbed by the racist and sexist treatment of Chicanos and Chicanas who worked with the printer’s union at the large printing company, and this caused Trujillo to quit his position at the publishing company and take to the road, hitch-hiking his way to Berkeley, California in 1969 to partake of the Haight-Ashbury hippie scene.

Trujillo describes his introduction to the Chicano Movement in terms of experiencing an epiphany. In his view it was destiny that he became a foot-soldier in the struggle for Chicano liberation. In 1970, Trujillo participated in the summer program offered by the United Mexican American Students – Equal Opportunity Program (UMAS-EOP), and that fall enrolled for undergraduate classes at the prestigious University of Colorado in Boulder. As a Chicano activist, Trujillo put to use the experience he had gained while promoting free concerts and other events for Familia Security, who helped bring legendary bands such as The Grateful Dead to Boulder. Trujillo participated in student government and was elected to a CU Senate position as the organizing power of minority students grew on the Boulder campus. Trujillo’s understanding of the flow of monies through the University made him an adept organizer, and he played an integral part in bringing events such as La Fiesta de la Gente, and numerous other musical, theater, and dance performances by Chicano artists to the campus. During the early 1970s, the University of Colorado in Boulder was the scene of a flowering of Chicano culture and political awareness. This was a frightening spectacle to the power structure at the University, which responded in a reactionary fashion by cutting out those programs which had made it possible for the enrollment of Chicano students at CU-Boulder, a university with a total enrollment exceeding 20,000 students to jump from less than 50 Chicanos in 1968, to over 1200 by 1972. This policy of discrimination against Chicanos led to escalating conflict between University of Colorado officials and Chicano student activists.

A major antagonist of the Chicano student movement in Colorado proved to be Joe Coors, millionaire beer magnate, and University of Colorado Board of Regents member. A coalition of minority interest groups rose to protest discriminatory hiring practices at the Coors Brewery Company in Golden, Colorado, and Coors was placed high on the list of those to be targeted by radical factions of the Chicano community. A nationwide boycott of Coors Beer by the Chicano people was called for by UMAS, and the Aztlán Boycott Coors Committee was formed, which Trujillo rose to chair. The boycott proved to be an effective tactic; at one point the University of Colorado itself stopped serving Coors Beer at banquets and in the student lounge, and the boycott quickly spread throughout the United States. In his role as chairman of the Boycott Coors campaign, Trujillo traveled to California, Arizona, and New Mexico, as well as throughout the state of Colorado, making numerous public appearances to speak on the issues raised by the boycotters. Trujillo was also a strong supporter of César Chávez and the United Farm Workers Union’s non-violent struggle to improve the lives of the many Mexicano agricultural workers and their families who toiled under inhumane working conditions for miserably low wages.

Trujillo’s commitment to the Chicano Movement was fortified by the deep sense of loss and anger he shared with many other members of the Chicano community in Colorado following the tragic death of Ricardo Falcón. Falcón was gunned down in the town of Oro Grande, New Mexico following a confrontation with a White gas-station attendant over water to cool the radiator of the disabled car Falcón and other delegates from Colorado’s La Raza Unida Party were traveling in on their way to the historic LRUP National Convention held in El Paso, Texas in the late summer of 1972. The one-time coordinator of the UMAS tutorial program, Falcón was a well-respected organizer within the Chicano community of Colorado. He was also a close acquaintance of Trujillo.

In May 1974, Trujillo participated in the seizure and occupation of the building housing the UMAS-EOP offices on the CU-Boulder campus. The purpose of the occupation was to draw attention to the financial aid crisis facing Chicano students whose reliance on financial aid to attend college put them in a precarious position as the University chose to continue to slash money and programs for disadvantaged students. The occupation of Temporary Building 1 (TB-1) on the University of Colorado campus ended with the deaths of six young adults who were killed in two separate explosions which rocked the city of Boulder in late May of 1974. Killed in the first explosion were Neva Romero, Una Jaakola, and Reyes Martínez. The second explosion, which occurred two days later, claimed the lives of Florencio “Freddie” Granados, Heriberto Terán, and Francisco Dougherty. A lone survivor, Antonio Alcantar, was severely maimed, physically and psychologically. Five of those killed had been students at CU, two held degrees from the University of Colorado, and all had ties to UMAS. The Boulder bombings and the deaths of Los Seis de Boulder marked a climactic point during the Movimiento period of Chicano history.

As one of the original eight Chicano student occupiers of TB-1, a group which included Neva Romero, Trujillo felt a responsibility and duty to keep the memories of Los Seis de Boulder alive. In 1975 Trujillo was a key organizer of the first commemoration to honor the deaths of Los Seis, and has been an active participant and planner at subsequent annual commemorations which continue to be held throughout the state of Colorado. Since 1975 Trujillo has also made numerous presentations at colleges and universities on the topic of Los Seis de Boulder, UMAS, and the Chicano Movement in Colorado.

Trujillo moved to Pueblo, Colorado in 1978 and was a founder and contributor to La Cucaracha news magazine, working on layout and as a photographer during the publication’s eight year tenure. In addition to Los Seis de Boulder commemorations, Freddie Freak also continues to participate in organizing annual Cinco de Mayo parades and fiestas in Pueblo, as well Día de la Raza celebrations, and Columbus Day protest events. He has also produced several videos for community access television in Denver, Colorado. In September 2008 Trujillo donated the contents of his personal archives collection to Colorado State University-Pueblo, the first donation to the newly inaugurated Southern Colorado Ethnic Heritage and Diversity Archives.

Juan “Freddie Freak” Trujillo lived in Pueblo with his compañera de vida Francis, whom he met in Boulder in 1973.  He passed away of cancer in 2020.  He died in Pueblo, CO.

Subject/Index Terms

Chicano Movement -- Colorado.
Chicano Movement -- United States
Hispanic Americans -- Civil Rights -- Colorado
Mexican Americans -- Civil Rights - Colorado
Pueblo (Colo.) -- History -- 20th century
United Mexican American Students (University of Colorado-Boulder)

Administrative Information

Repository: Colorado State University-Pueblo Library

Access Restrictions: There are no access restrictions on this collection

Use Restrictions: Not all of the material in the collection is in the public domain. Researchers are responsible for addressing copyright issues.

Acquisition Method: Realizing the political and historical magnitude of those events he was witnessing and participating in, Trujillo took it upon himself to become a recorder and collector of the unique history of the Chicano Movement in Colorado. An enduring image of Freddie Freak is that of him down on one knee with arm extended, microphone in hand, capturing on tape the sounds of movement rallies and speeches. Freddie Freak’s commitment to preserving the Chicano people’s unfolding history was recognized by his peers, and many individuals donated material to what was termed the “Colorado Chicano Movement Archives.” Over the course of the nearly four decades that he managed the archives, Brian Sánchez, Esther Sánchez, Ray H. Otero, Shirley Romero Otero, Juan Espinosa, Deborah Espinosa, Larry Medina, Pablo Carlos Mora, Rita J. Martínez, José Esteban Ortega, Cleopatra M. Estrada, David Martínez, Produccíones Estrella Roja, and La Cucaracha magazine all made substantial contributions to Freddie Freak’s collection.

Related Materials: Jose E. Ortega Papers, Garcia Family Papers, Rick F. Manzanares Papers, David Marquez Papers, Mitchell Kaufman Papers, Deborah Martinez Martinez Papers, Andres de Pineda Papers, David A. Sandoval Audiovisual Collection, United Mexican American Students Records, George Autobee Papers

Preferred Citation: Juan Federico “Freddie Freak” Arguello Trujillo Chicano Movement Collection, Colorado State University-Pueblo Library, University Archives and Special Collections

Processing Information: Assistant Archivist Reyes Martinez Lopez completed processing of this collection in June 2009; Archivist Beverly Allen and Martinez Lopez created the finding aid.  Student Intern Rufina Baca processed and added Series 4 Ephemera in spring 2022.


Box and Folder Listing


Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Publications, Newspapers, and Periodicals, 1965-1994],
[Series 2: Audiovisual Materials, 1970s-1990s],
[Series 3: Coors Boycott, 1970-2000],
[Series 4: Ephemera, 1975-2000s],
[All]

Series 3: Coors Boycott, 1970-2000Add to your cart.
This series includes pamphlets, fliers, position papers, publications, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and other printed material related to the nationwide boycott of Coors products. Arrangement: The Coors Boycott material was left in the order established by Trujillo.
UnitID: Series 3:
Box 2Add to your cart.
Folder 45: Newspaper clippings: “Coors 1970-1974 I”, 1970-1974Add to your cart.
Folder 46: Newspaper clippings: “Coors 1975 II”, 1975Add to your cart.
Folder 47: Newspaper clippings: “Coors 1976 III”, 1976Add to your cart.
Folder 48: Newspaper clippings: “Coors 1977 IV”, 1977Add to your cart.
Folder 49: Newspaper clippings: “Coors 1978 V”, 1978Add to your cart.
Folder 50: Newspaper clippings: “Coors 1979 VI”, 1979Add to your cart.
Folder 51: Newspaper clippings: “Coors 1980 VII”, 1980Add to your cart.
Folder 52: Newspaper clippings: “Brewery Workers Local 366 VIII”, no dateAdd to your cart.
Folder 53: Newspaper clippings: “Brewery Workers Local 366 IX”, no dateAdd to your cart.
Folder 54: Newspaper clippings: “Coors – Porcelain X”, no dateAdd to your cart.
Folder 55: Newspaper clippings: “Bishop, Cameron XI”, no dateAdd to your cart.
Folder 56: Newspaper clippings: “Corbett, Joseph XII”, no dateAdd to your cart.
Folder 57: Newspaper clippings: “Coors – Stock Reports XIII”, no dateAdd to your cart.
Folder 58: Newspaper clippings: “Coors XIV”, no dateAdd to your cart.
Box 3Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Coors Boycott Fact Sheets and Polygraph Questionaires, ca. 1977Add to your cart.
Folder 2: “Coors Strikes” Letters of Support, ca. 1975-2000Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Handwritten memos and schedules, ca. 1975Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Student essay, “A Study of Adolph Coors Company,” by Phil Montoya (two copies), 1975Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Student essay, “A Study of Adolph Coors Company,” by Phil Montoya (carbon copy), 1975Add to your cart.
Folder 6: “Coors I” Boycott Graphics and Artwork, ca. 1970s-1980sAdd to your cart.
Folder 7: Supporter contact lists and vendor lists, ca. 1975-1999Add to your cart.
Folder 8: “Coors GI Forum” Information, Prospectus, and Report, ca. 1973-1976Add to your cart.
Folder 9: “Coors General – Public Relations”, ca. 1972-1978Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Coors – Employee Statements, ca. 1974-1976Add to your cart.
Folder 11: “Coors Hiring (Affirmative) Action” reports and correspondence, ca. 1970sAdd to your cart.
Folder 12: Coors financial stock reports, ca. 1975Add to your cart.
Folder 13: Assorted articles and reports related to the Coors Boycott, ca. 1974-1982Add to your cart.
Folder 14: “Boycott Coors” press releases and position statements, ca. 1970sAdd to your cart.
Folder 15: Assorted periodical articles related to the Coors Boycott, no dateAdd to your cart.
Folder 16: Report on beer sales, United States Brewers Association, Inc.(seven copies), 1976Add to your cart.
Folder 17: Memorandum, Coors “Minority College Recruiting”, 1974Add to your cart.
Folder 18: “Coors Boycott” assorted pamphlets, flyers, and newsletters, ca. 1970s-2000Add to your cart.
Folder 19: Movement Against the Klan and Racism (M.A.R.K.) - pamphlets and newsletters, ca.1970s-1980sAdd to your cart.
Folder 20: Up the Creek, vol. III, no. 3 (two copies), April 27, 1984Add to your cart.
Folder 21: Westword, vol. 5, issue 13, Feb. 25-Mar. 11, 1982Add to your cart.
Folder 22: Westword, vol. 5, issue 14, (two copies), Mar. 11-25, 1982Add to your cart.
Folder 23: Westword, vol. 5, issue 16, Apr. 8-22, 1982Add to your cart.
Folder 24: Westword, vol. 5, issue 19, May 20-Jun. 3, 1982Add to your cart.
Folder 25: Nuestra Cosa, vol. II, no. 3, Spring 1983Add to your cart.
Folder 26: La Cucaracha, vol. IV, no. 11, 11 Sep 1979Add to your cart.
Folder 27: El Diario de la Gente, vol. 6, no. 10, Oct 1979Add to your cart.
Folder 28: El Diario de la Gente, vol. II, no. 3, 14 Feb 2000Add to your cart.
Folder 29: Denver Post newspaper clippings relating to Coors Boycott, ca. 1970s-2000sAdd to your cart.
Folder 30: Rocky Mountain News newspaper clippings relating to “Coors General”, ca. 1970s-2000sAdd to your cart.
Folder 31: Newspaper clippings, ca. 1970s-1980sAdd to your cart.

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Publications, Newspapers, and Periodicals, 1965-1994],
[Series 2: Audiovisual Materials, 1970s-1990s],
[Series 3: Coors Boycott, 1970-2000],
[Series 4: Ephemera, 1975-2000s],
[All]


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