Shirley Romero Otero (1955-) | Colorado State University-Pueblo Library

Name: Shirley Romero Otero (1955-)

Historical Note: Shirley Romero Otero is a Chicana activist who was born in 1955 in San Pablo, Colorado to her parents, Moises and Esmeralda Olivas Romero. Shirley has dedicated the greater part of her life to ensuring communal access to the grounds of the La Sierra portion of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant, particularly after the removal of that right in 1960. Shirley co-founded the Land Rights Council in 1977 for that purpose. With the aid of the Land Rights Council, Shirley has taken on wealthy absentee landowners who have sought to restrict communal access to the La Sierra portion of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant. She and the Land Rights Council were involved in a lengthy court case which, in 2002, culminated in a Colorado Supreme Court decision restoring access of the La Sierra portion to the heirs of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant. For her continuing efforts to protect the original agreement of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant, as well as her efforts to bring about positive change in her community and the Chicano community, Shirley was awarded the Cesar Chavez Latino Leadership Hall of Fame Award by the Denver Public Library in 2021 and became a Corn Mother Honoree in 2022. Shirley completed her term as President of the Land Rights Council on December 20, 2022.  She is currently the Director of the Move Mountains Youth Organization.

Records or Manuscript Collections Created by Shirley Romero Otero