Color photograph of the Vialpando family. Everyone is formally dressed and standing in front of a white wall.
| Description by Donor given during scanning day: Gloria Vialpando, Louis Vialpando, Debra Vialpando, Gerald Vialpando, Lisa Vialpando. Mrs. Vialpando's children. All graduates of Pueblo County High School.
Donated by Gloria Rhodes, The Museum of Memory is a public history initiative at History Colorado that collaborates with Colorado communities to co-author a shared state historical record through community-based memory projects. The Museum of Memory utilizes the involvement of residents, community-based organizations, and school districts to support their telling, collecting, sharing, and preserving of community stories. One such effort is the Avondale Neighborhood Memory Project, which is done in partnership with the Avondale Resident Team, a community-led health equity advocacy organization based in Avondale, CO, and supported by the Colorado Trust. The Museum of Memory project is part of the Avondale Resident Team's community-building efforts to produce a photographic collection that reflects the historical and contemporary contribution the Avondale community has made to the cultural identity of Southern Colorado. The photo collection results from community scanning sessions held in 2019 were coordinated by Dawn DiPrince and Jose Ortega from El Pueblo History Museum. The scanning sessions consisted of current and former residents of Avondale who brought images they considered representative of the modern and historical life in the community. All photographs were then digitally scanned and preserved. Avondale Neighborhood Memory Project features predominately Mexican American and Italian, who made up Avondale's largest demographics. The collection articulates the story of a once affluent town that boasted the Pueblo Army Depot, high-producing-generational farms, and a bustling main street. Unfortunately, Avondale would begin to decline in the latter twentieth century. Although a bygone era, Avondale maintains a rich history of veterans, military, agriculture, religion, and sports. This project shows the resilience of a community with the rise, fall, and upswing within Colorado's changing economy.