People

: Bonnie Bondurant; Born June 10, 1925 in Las Animas, Colorado. Died August 4, 2007. Father: Austin Oxford. Mother: Mabel G. Oxford. Sibling: L.G. Oxford. Migrated to Salida in 1944. Bonnie owned and operated Oxford's Market in Salida and was on the Library's Board of Trustees.

: Booker Thomas Washington Taylor; He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to William Wesley Taylor and Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Austin) Taylor. His father was the editor of the Utah Plain Dealer, an African American newspaper. His mother was a homemaker and also worked on the paper. His father passed away in 1907, when Booker was two. He was then raised in part by his older brother, William Wesley Taylor III, who also helped pay for Booker's higher education. He married Zenobia F. Williams in Jackson, Missouri in 1926, possibly while attending college. The 1930 US Census shows them living together in Baton Rouge, where he worked as a teacher for Southern University. According to his niece, Josephine Dickey, he also served as a Cadet in the Civil Air Patrol. Booker and Zenobia came to Grand Junction in 1932. He was ordained as a pastor in the Christian Church in Grand Junction, where he served from 1935-37. He was the pastor of the Handy Chapel for 20-25 years, joining his brother William Wesley Taylor as an official there (in a church where his grandfather and mother had ministered in the early days of the institution). He also taught in the Methodist Church. The 1940 US Census also shows that he worked as an automobile painter. He worked to assist African Americans new to Grand Junction or passing through. According to Josephine Dickey, he was a beloved figure in the community. When he died, his funeral was one of the largest in Grand Junction’s history to that time.

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