Disappearing Agricultural Spaces: Japanese Americans in Northern Colorado

Monday, July 13, 2026 - 5:30 pm MT (Hybrid)

5:30 pm: CAS Business and Information Meeting

6:00 pm: Speaker

Speaker: Marie Matsuda, Project Archaeologist, ERO Resources Corporation

Our meetings are free and open to the public. Members will receive the Zoom link by email. If you are not a member and would like to attend this talk, please contact us to receive the Zoom link.

Location: Englewood Public Library, Perrin Room, 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, CO 80110. The library is located on the first floor of the Englewood Civic Center Building (Google Map Link). The Civic Center Building can be reached via S. Broadway, W. Hampden Ave and S. Santa Fe Drive. There is free parking accessible from S. Inca Street (enter the building on the 1st floor) and S. Jason Street (enter the building on the 2nd floor and take stairs/elevator to 1st floor). Public transit is also available at the nearby Englewood Light Rail Station and Bus Transfer Loop (Parking and Public Transit Link). For public transit information, please visit RTD's Trip Planner Web Page.

Abstract

The Japanese American agricultural landscape has been diminishing since the 1960s. Historical farms have been abandoned and are under various threats of land costs, development, and the influx of industrial agriculture at an increasingly rapid rate. Documenting lesser-known agricultural spaces is paramount to preserving the stories of marginalized groups of people that were part of the fabric of agricultural history as agriculture is a large part of the historical and present Colorado landscape. Through the stories of several Japanese families who farmed in Boulder County, this presentation will highlight aspects of cultural resilience and practice through archaeological and landscape analysis, oral history, and archival research. This presentation aims to set the stage for a future regional archaeological survey and historical context of Japanese American farms in northern Colorado.

Bio

Marie Matsuda has worked as a CRM archaeologist for 6 years in Colorado. She attended Colorado State University for her master's where she specialized in alpine archaeology and wrote her thesis on the Indigenous occupation of playas in northeast Colorado from the Paleoindian period to the late ceramic period. She has co-published on various archaeological topics ranging from ethical artifact collection, public engagement in archaeology, to field experiences of minority groups.