The University of Northern Colorado will celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month by honoring six women for their contributions to the region.
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“Return of the Corn Mothers” is a continuation of the Colorado- and New Mexico-based Corn Mothers Project. The 25-year-old endeavor documents the impacts of Hispanic and multicultural women through advocacy, arts, cultural preservation, and working-class industries like railroads and mining.
The touring exhibition will unveil and add the new Corn Mothers’ portraits and biographies at an induction ceremony on Friday, Oct. 2.
Pictured from left to right (excluding the portrait): Juanita Martinez Rocha, Elena Guerrero Townsend, Emma Peña McCleave and Nomie Ketterling
One honoree, education advocate Juanita Martinez Rocha, is a member of Hispanic Women of Weld County and serves on the board for Greeley Dream Team, a nonprofit that works with the local school district.
Martinez Rocha told KUNC that becoming a Corn Mother was a direct result of her own mother’s support and sacrifices.
“She said, ‘Don't ever let anybody call you a dirty Mexican. Be proud of who you are and where you come from,’” Martinez Rocha told KUNC. “We were poor, but nobody ever knew. And yet with whatever little she had, she shared with everybody. She just had this heart of gold.”
The reverence and gratitude toward mothers was a common theme among the other Corn Mothers we spoke with as well.
Emma Peña McCleave is founder and coordinator of the Mexican American History Project Greeley and sits on the board for Greeley Museums. She says her mother inspired her to persevere.
“She brought up nine kids in a small farming community. She was just the rock. And when I got old enough to know what strength is, it was my mother,” said Peña McCleave. “We had a garden, and all of us got involved in that. It was fun and it was fruitful, and my mother was behind that.”
Poet and author Elena Guerrero Townsend is a member of the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council. She was also the first woman trackman for the Santa Fe Railway in 1977.
“My mother was extremely proud of me. And then I became a clerk, and then a conductor, and a locomotive engineer,” Guerrero recalled. “That's when she became the proudest: when I could drive a train. And to tell her friends and boast about it and pound her chest - it was fun for her.”
Nomie Ketterling was named the United Way of Weld County's 2023 Humanitarian of the Year for her philanthropic and volunteer work to support Weld County residents. She’s grateful her mother challenged her to reach for the stars.
“I grew up in a small town. Everyone knew if I wasn't excelling, if you will,” Ketterling said with a laugh. “I think, ‘if we could just be the person that you raised and be the goodness in the world…’ All of us wanted to make our mothers proud.”
The induction ceremony starts at 5 p.m. on the first floor of the Campus Commons building.
