Julia's parents settled on a homestead in Breeze Basin near Craig in 1908. Her parents were Austrian immigrants and had six children. There was a large Catholic community in Breeze Basin and Elk Head, the areas where families gathered for church (in a tent) and in homes for dances and activities. She describes: her mother's trip from Austria, the homestead cabin, her father's jobs, the J.W. Hugas store in Craig, "Mormon crickets," chores, play, school, clothes washing, and teenage activities. Julia married Paul Kawcak at sixteen and describes a "wedding shivaree." Paul was a coal miner from Walsenburg and many of his friends followed him to Craig to farm and ranch. She describes their homestead: clearing the land, building the house, and digging the well. Her husband worked in the mines while she worked the homestead with their nine boys and seven girls. She talks about: milking cows, cooking, making clothing, Catholic Church activities, dances at the school, and home remedies. Julia died in 1987.
Oral histories were collected by Julie Jones-Eddy in 1983-1986. Permission forms were obtained at the time of interviews. This oral history collection of forty-seven interviews with women between the ages of sixty-five and ninety-five years of age is the result of a two year project begun in 1984. It was supported by a grant from the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities. In addition to the tape collection, the grant also funded the production of a videotape program which highlights selective portions from some of the interviews. "Women of Northwestern Colorado, 1890-1940: Glimpses of Our Lives" is available at Tutt Libray and other libraries around the state.The original files are housed in Special Collections, Tutt Library, Colorado College, R1000. Audio files: WAV and MP3 were processed from original cassette tapes using Soundforge; a Marantz 221 PMD cassette player/recorder. Settings recommended by the Colorado Digitization Project, Digital Audio Best Practices. Each tape is set at 96kHZ, 24 bits. Images: Scanned from photos and slides to JPEG. Text materials: Scanned to PDF and processed to PDF/A using Adobe Acrobat Professional.
Oral histories were collected by Julie Jones-Eddy in 1983-1986. Permission forms were obtained at the time of interviews. This oral history collection of forty-seven interviews with women between the ages of sixty-five and ninety-five years of age is the result of a two year project begun in 1984. It was supported by a grant from the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities. In addition to the tape collection, the grant also funded the production of a videotape program which highlights selective portions from some of the interviews. "Women of Northwestern Colorado, 1890-1940: Glimpses of Our Lives" is available at Tutt Libray and other libraries around the state.The original files are housed in Special Collections, Tutt Library, Colorado College, R1000. Audio files: WAV and MP3 were processed from original cassette tapes using Soundforge; a Marantz 221 PMD cassette player/recorder. Settings recommended by the Colorado Digitization Project, Digital Audio Best Practices. Each tape is set at 96kHZ, 24 bits. Images: Scanned from photos and slides to JPEG. Text materials: Scanned to PDF and processed to PDF/A using Adobe Acrobat Professional.
