The Chicano Movement in Colorado took hold in the 1960s and 1970s, and during the height of this unrest, six activists, both students and alumni, were killed by car bombs near the University of Colorado Boulder campus.

Jasmine Baetz, an art student at CU, had no idea. She didn't learn about it in class but found out after stumbling on the documentary "Symbols of Resistance," which chronicled the movement in Colorado and New Mexico.

“I found that very shocking,” Baetz said. “I thought that was something that would have been codified in some way in the institution’s history.”

When Baetz realized that there was no marker on campus to remember these activists, she decided to do something about it.

Baetz created a 6-foot concrete sculpture with mosaic tiles of all six of activists, who became known posthumously as "Los Seis de Boulder," or "The Boulder Six." All six are facing the locations where they died. The dedication is Friday.

Courtesy of Destin Hernandez CU students Jasmine Baetz (blue shirt) and Celina Tovar (yellow) work on the memorial during a community day where students, professors, alumni, and even some of the families of the deceased to help work on the project.

The Car Bombs

On May 27, 1974, a car bomb killed alumni, Reyes Martinez and Una Jaakola, and CU Boulder student Neva Romero in Chautauqua Park.

Two days later, another car bomb killed alumni Freddie Granado and Heriberto Teran, and a student planning to transfer to CU that fall, Francisco Dougherty, at a fast food restaurant on 28th Street in Boulder. There was a fourth man injured in the explosion, Antonio Alcantar, who lost his leg.

Baetz went to a United Mexican-American Students organization meeting (now called UMAS y MEXA) to get Mexican-American voices involved.

Nine Mexican-American students came together in 1968 to create the organization.

Baetz is not Chicana and she’s outspoken about not wanting to center herself. She created and hosted community days to invite students, professors, alumni, and even some of the families of the deceased to help work on the project. On those days, she had anywhere from 30 to 70 people in the ceramics studio.

“I’ve tried really hard to center the community,” Baetz said. “This is literally a community created project and process.”

The site of the sculpture is in front of Temporary Building 1 on campus, where the dedication will be held.