PRESS RELEASES

All Press Releases

09/08/10 New exhibit explores varying views of the Mexican Conquest
In 1519, Hernán Cortés and a small group of Spanish soldiers made first contact with the Aztecs. The stories they sent back to Europe detailing the wealth and sophistication of the Aztec empire astonished their countrymen – and fed 300 years of efforts to write and re-write the story of the Mexican Conquest.From Oct. 1 through Feb. 2011, the History Museum’s Triangle Gallery will present Imagining Mexico: From the Aztec Empire to Colonial New Spain, an original exhibit featuring books, prints and maps from the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library’s John Bourne Collection of Meso-Americana, the Rare Books Collection, and the Map Collection. Created mainly for people who would never cross the Atlantic but live their adventures vicariously, the works formed perceptions – fictitious at times – of the land of Cortés, Moctezuma, amazing temples and important battles.
09/01/10 CANCELED: Chow Down at the Cowden Cafe
Note: This event has been canceled while the Cowden Cafe's operators, owners of the historic Plaza Cafe, deal with fire damages to that restaurant's kitchen. The event will be rescheduled and, in the meantime, the Cowden Cafe is open for business 10 am to 4 pm Tuesday-Sunday. Show your support for the Plaza Cafe by dropping in to the Cowden for lunch or a snack.The lecture accompanying this grand-opening event is also being rescheduled. Author Michael Pettit, a great-grandson of the Cowden family ranchers who founded the legendary JAL Ranch, is planning to talk about "Historic and Contemporary Family Ranching in New Mexico." The History Museum’s Cowden Cafe, operated by the owners of the famous Plaza Cafe, celebrates its grand opening Sept. 12, with a ranch-style barbecue and live Western music by Sid Hausman, plus a free lecture about the Cowden Ranch. Take a break from the Santa Fe Fiesta to enjoy a $9.99 buffet. Tap your toes and feast on barbecue chicken, brisket, fruit cobbler and more on the café’s second-floor terrace from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm. At 3:30 pm in the History Museum Auditorium, author Michael Pettit will talk about “Historic Ranching in Southeast New Mexico and Contemporary Family Ranching in New Mexico.”
08/31/10 Dignitaries to Attend U.S. Debut of Rare Spanish Documents
From a 1602 field drawing of a buffalo to portraits of President George Washington, Spanish explorers, colonists and diplomats have played key roles in American culture for five centuries. An exhibit coming to the New Mexico History Museum from Spain explores the first 300 years of those encounters – from the friars who made first contact with Native peoples through Spain’s timely assistance to American forces in the Revolutionary War. The Threads of Memory: Spain and the United States (El Hilo de la Memoria: España y los Estados Unidos) opens Oct. 16 with a ticketed event featuring New Mexican and Spanish dignitaries. On Sunday, Oct. 17, the public is invited to enjoy the U.S. premiere of nearly 140 rare documents, maps, illustrations and paintings – many of which have never been displayed outside of Spain. The opening also marks the start of the Threads of Memory Lecture Series, with keynote speaker Luis Laorden of Madrid, Spain. The series includes lectures, musical performances, panel discussions and more that further explore the role Spain has played in shaping America as it is.
05/27/10 Wild at Heart: Ernest Thompson Seton
Wild at Heart: Ernest Thompson Seton dedicates itself to telling the often overlooked story of the conservationist, author, artist, lecturer and co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America. Ernest Thompson Seton’s impact on America’s conservation movement was immeasurable but, today is largely forgotten. Wild at Heart: Ernest Thompson Seton sets out to change that through this exhibit and a full year of special programming.
05/13/10 The History Museum Turns 1: Start the Party
After 20 years of planning, designing and building, the New Mexico History Museum’s first year turned into a blockbuster. Since opening to blocks-long lines on May 23, 2009, the museum has drawn 150,000 visitors; held a packed schedule of lectures, workshops and performances; played host to the Crown Prince of Spain; and carried home an armload of awards. In honor of its accomplishments and in gratitude to those who helped make the first year such a success, the Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents voted to open the museum for free May 22 and 23.“We want to throw a party to say `thank you’ for everything that New Mexicans and out-of-state visitors have done for us,” said Dr. Frances Levine, director of the museum. “The outpouring of support from visitors, scholars, donors, businesses, and especially our volunteers has carried us beyond our expectations.”
04/29/10 Plaza Restaurant to Operate New "Cowden Cafe" at History Museum
Downtown Santa Fe will soon have a new gathering spot for enjoying food, beverages, free wi-fi and a stunning view from an upstairs patio. The Cowden Café, opening May 20 at the New Mexico History Museum, will be operated by the historic Plaza Restaurant. The partnership between the museum and the restaurant fits into a new trend of museums as community gathering spots. “Museums are changing,” said Dr. Frances Levine, director of the museum. “It’s not just about visiting the exhibits, it’s about being comfortable in public spaces and providing amenities to help people feel comfortable. We want our museum to be a place for the community.”
04/06/10 Downtown Santa Fe Walking Tours Set to Resume
Centuries of history unfolded in Santa Fe’s downtown, and museum guides from the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors are set to resume public walking tours to share those stories with first-time tourists and longtime residents alike. Beginning April 15, every Monday-Saturday at 10:15 a.m., tours begin at the blue gate just south of the History Museum entrance at 113 Lincoln Ave. Cost is $10; children under 17 are free when accompanied by an adult. Museum guides do not accept tips. The tours continue through Oct. 15.
11/20/09 New Mexico History Museum to Receive Hewett Award
The New Mexico History Museum will receive the New Mexico Association of Museums’ Hewett Award this week at the group’s annual meeting in Santa Fe. Also receiving a Hewett is Louise Stiver, retired senior curator of the History Museum, whose Fashioning New Mexico exhibit is on display through April 14, 2010.
11/20/09 Exhibit opening: Santa Fe Found: Fragments of Time
Join the curators for the grand opening of the New Mexico History Museum’s newest exhibit, Santa Fe Found: Fragments of Time, a historical and archaeological exploration of the founding and first 100 years of La Villa Real de Santa Fé. A free reception will be 5:30-7 pm on Friday, Nov. 20, in the Palace of the Governors. The event is hosted by the Women’s Board. Visitors can enter through the Palace at 105 W. Palace Ave., or the History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave.
11/20/09 Spanish Crown Prince Tours NM History Museum,
His Royal Highness Prince Felipe of Spain, with his wife, Princess Letizia, on Tuesday visited the New Mexico History Museum, which he called “amazing” for its depictions of diverse cultures living and sometimes clashing over the centuries.
11/20/09 Announcing the Telling New Mexico Inaugural Lecture Series
The New Mexico History Museum today unveiled a new subscription lecture series to accompany the book, Telling New Mexico: A New History. Speakers for the five-part Telling New Mexico Inaugural Lecture Series will cover a range of topics – from the earliest Spanish colonists to Blackdom to Japanese internment camps to Navajo women.
11/20/09 The Jewish-Converso Roots of Don Juan de Oñate
José Antonio Esquibel will speak on “A Matter of Persuasion: The Jewish-Converso Lineage of Don Juan de Oñate” at 6 pm on Thursday, Nov. 12 at the New Mexico History Museum Auditorium, 113 Lincoln Ave. The event is free and open to the public.
11/20/09 Ilan Stavans Shakes Things Up
Ilan Stavans, "the czar of Latino culture in the United States," will speak on "The Jewish Experience in Latin America" at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15, at the New Mexico History Museum. The event is free with Museum admission and open to the public. The Museum is at 113 Lincoln Ave. in Santa Fe; admission is free to NM residents on Sundays.
11/20/09 Preserving Your Family’s Heirloom Textiles
Worried about how well you’re safeguarding that family finery tucked into a closet or stuffed into a cedar chest? Learn how professionals care for heirloom textiles at a workshop in the New Mexico History Museum classroom from 2-4 pm on Saturday, Jan. 16. The Museum is at 113 Lincoln Avenue in downtown Santa Fe.
09/25/09 Museum group honors History Museum
New Mexico Center for Museum Resources and Museum of Natural History and Science Win Regional Awards
08/20/09 The Gambling Queen of Santa Fe
In another place and time, she might have been prosecuted or even condemned to death for her chosen profession. But in the rowdy, rough-and-tumble gambling center that was Santa Fe in the mid-1800s, the legendary Doña Maria Gertrudis Barceló was an influential and respected member of the social elite.
06/11/09 The Long Walk of the Navajo and Mescalaro Indians and its Enduring Mark on Western History
The story was born in one man’s misguided notion of a utopia for Native Americans. It ended with one of the most shameful chapters in the history of the American West – the Long Walk.
05/28/09 Another free weekend, a booksigning, and a Top 5 Listing
The New Mexico History Museum continued taking strides in the days after its grand opening, earning a spot in the top five “cultural hot spots” not to miss this summer via the influential travel and lifestyle Web site Indagare. In its posting, http://www.indagare.com/passions/2/departments/172, the site ranked the History Museum with the likes of the Punta della Dogana in Venice, Italy; the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece; the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s New American Wing in New York; and the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing.
05/26/09 It’s History in the Making as the Nation’s Newest Museum Opens its Doors:
The New Mexico History Museum welcomed thousands of visitors today, May 24, 2009, to three-and-a-half floors of stories detailing centuries' worth of the stories that made the American West. By 3 p.m., an estimated 7,000 people had crossed the threshold, while dozens of others lined up outside, even during an hour-long thunderstorm.
05/26/09 Spiritual Blessings and Pilgrimage Kick Off Museum’s Second Day of Grand Opening Events
The pealing bells of St. Francis Cathedral heralded Monday’s opening events for the New Mexico History Museum, as visitors continued to stream into the building at 113 Lincoln Avenue, north of the historic Santa Fe Plaza. An interfaith service at the Cathedral marked Monday’s festivities, with leaders from various religions and cultures coming together to commemorate the museum and the state’s rich and lengthy history.
05/22/09 Historic scissors to cut the ribbon at NMHM
When the Grand Opening ribbon is cut at the brand-new New Mexico History Museum on Sunday, May 24, it will be in historical style. A pair of 18th-century Spanish scribe’s scissors have been loaned to the Museum by longtime supporter Jerry Richardson, a Museum of New Mexico Foundation trustee.
05/21/09 The Art of the Exhibit: It Took a Village to Build These Stories
Deciding which stories among centuries of stories to tell in the New Mexico History Museum took years of discussions with staff and historians and statewide meetings with people from every corner of the state. Deciding how to tell them took the expertise of Gallagher & Associates.
05/15/09 High-Tech Techniques Bring New Mexicoâ€™s Past to Life
Hands-on history. That’s one of the many ways the New Mexico History Museum (http://www.nmhistorymuseum.org/), opening May 24, puts visitors into the sights, sounds and actual feel of its stories.
05/14/09 New Mexico History Museum takes another step to completion
With the installation of exterior signage today, the New Mexico History Museum took another step toward its May 24 grand opening. Workers affixed the words “New Mexico History Museum” and “Pete V. Domenici Building” over the Museum’s main entrance at 113 Lincoln Avenue, just north of the Santa Fe Plaza.
05/12/09 Riding the Rails... in Style
With the completion of the trans-continental railroad in 1869, many Americans set out to discover the “Wild West” for themselves. What they found held a few discouragements. The long, dusty ride across the country had little to offer in the way of lodging, and the food often consisted of little more than rancid meat, cold beans and week-old coffee.
05/07/09 Duty, Honor, Sacrifice: New Mexico Veterans answered the Nation’s call
For generations, New Mexico’s men and women have heard the nation’s call to service and answered it with courage, sacrifice and honor. Their stories – including those of the Buffalo Soldiers, Indian Code Talkers and Bataan Death March survivors – are among the many told by the New Mexico History Museum, opening May 24, 2009, at 113 Lincoln Avenue on the historic Santa Fe Plaza. More than four centuries of stories fill the Museum’s 96,000 square feet – a testament to the roles New Mexico has played and continues to play in how the American West evolved.
05/05/09 Join the Stampede! New Mexico History Museumâ€™s Grand Opening events promise two days of family fun!!
After 20 years in the planning – not to mention centuries in the making – New Mexico’s newest museum opens its doors to the public at noon on Sunday, May 24, 2009. It wouldn’t be a Santa Fe event without a Santa Fe-style party, and we’re pulling out the stops.
04/28/09 Four Centuries of History: the Fiestas de Santa Fe
The Fiestas de Santa Fe have been celebrated every autumn for 297 years to commemorate the Spanish reconquest of the City of Holy Faith in 1692. The stories behind the founding of Santa Fe, the Pueblo Revolt, and the Spanish reoccupation are just a shadow of the vibrant cultural history you’ll discover at the New Mexico History Museum, www.nmhistorymuseum.org, scheduled to open May 24, 2009.
04/24/09 Where ancient artifacts meet cutting-edge art
A 20-foot metal sculpture crawls along an exterior wall, mimicking the life-giving Rio Grande. Inside, a magical mix of sculpted resin and strategic spotlights turns apparently mundane objects into an amazing array of shadows.
04/22/09 Fashioning New Mexico
Life’s passages carry layers of meaning and memory – the foods we eat, the songs we sing, the clothes we wear. The ways in which our predecessors chose to clothe themselves – for a baptism, a prom, a war, or an opera opening – have been collected by the New Mexico History Museum for 100 years. As part of the Museum’s grand opening May 24, many of those outfits are, shall we say, coming out of the closet.
04/16/09 The Tiffany Ties that Bind
What does ultra-chic Tiffany’s have in common with New Mexico? More than you’d expect. From late-1800s Tiffany-blue turquoise to a spectacular early 20th- century silver service, Tiffany’s ties to New Mexico are among the surprises awaiting visitors to the New Mexico History Museum, opening May 24.
04/13/09 The Railroad Wars
Building tracks across New Mexico took money, might and a few gunslingers
04/07/09 The Tales that Made the American West
After more than 20 years of preparing for the New Mexico History Museum, we hope you can understand our excitement. Recently, we jumped the gun on letting at least some of you know about the stories we’ll be telling upon our grand opening May 24. We’re still opening, but want to make sure everyone gets the word.
04/07/09 The New Face of History
New Mexico History Museum Takes Interactive Approach To Show The Many Sides Of Our Stories
02/24/09 Barrier around new museum set for removal
A bane to Downtown drivers, shoppers and merchants but a boon to New Mexico History Museum construction workers, the fence that ate part of Lincoln Avenue west of the new building will come down this weekend, barring snow, ice or a highly unlikely hurricane.
12/04/08 Through the Lens: Creating Santa Fe â€“ Events and Lecture Schedule
In conjunction with the exhibition, Through the Lens: Crating Santa Fe, now on view in the west wing of the Palace of the Governors on the Plaza in Santa Fe though October 25, 2009, the Photo Archives at the Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum, presents a year-long lecture series. Through the Lens: Creating Santa Fe is part of the city-wide celebration of Santa Fe’s 400th anniversary as well as the centennial of the Museum of New Mexico. Invited speakers will focus on various aspects of the visual history of Santa Fe.
11/10/08 150/100! The Historical Society and the Museum of New Mexico to offer free Symposium
150/100! The Historical Society and the Museum of New Mexico symposium commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the Historical Society of New Mexico and the 100th of the Museum of New Mexico. The day will feature scholars and historians discussing the intertwined origins and histories of these two institutions. 150/100! The Historical Society and the Museum of New Mexico will be held at the St. Francis Auditorium in Santa Fe on Thursday, April 30, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
11/06/08 Department of Transportation puts wheels under New Mexico History Museum
The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and the state Transportation Department have created a partnership to mobilize the New Mexico History Museum more than six months before its scheduled public opening in May 2009.
09/17/08 New Mexico History Museum: Grand Opening, May 24, 2009
If you think history is boring, the New Mexico History Museum, opening in historic downtown Santa Fe on Memorial Day Weekend 2009, will have you shelving that notion right alongside the dust-covered history textbooks banished to the attic. On Sunday, May 24, 2009, the 96,000-square-foot, world-class cultural institution will open its doors to the public to unveil a state-of-the-art, immersive interactive exhibition set to cast new light on how history can be learned, and redefine the modern history museum. The multi-media environment will bring to life the complex, colorful and legendary stories of the 47th state in the Union, stories that began long before the Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower for American shores.
09/12/08 Holiday at the Palace of the Governors
The Palace of the Governors announces the ever-popular holiday events Christmas at the Palace, Friday, December 12, and Las Posadas, Sunday, December 14. Enjoy Santa Fe holiday magic in activities at the Palace of the Governors and on the historic Santa Fe Plaza. Christmas at the Palace and Las Posadas promise old-fashioned charm and treasures, and are wonderful holiday experiences for the entire family.
04/24/08 Through the Lens: Creating Santa Fe
Since the 1850s many of the most recognized names in photography have focused their lenses in and on Santa Fe. Through their creative efforts they have documented a particular place and its visual history.
04/24/08 Segesser Hide Paintings: An Overview
Though the source of the Segesser Hide Paintings is obscure, their significance cannot be clearer: the hides are rare examples of the earliest known depictions of colonial life in the United States.
04/15/08 Treasures of Devotion/Tesoros de Devoción
Treasures of Devotion/Tesoros de Devoción contains bultos, retablos, and crucifijos, dating from the late 1700s to 1900. They demonstrate how European stylistic traditions and iconography were combined with new palettes, different styles, and distinctive regional decorative designs that transformed New Mexican santo making into a unique hybrid. Highlighting the exhibit will be esoteric pieces such as the Crucifixion in a Large Nicho by the Laguna Santero and La Santísima Trinidad, a wood retablo with an applied paper painting of the Holy Trinity. Treasures of Devotion/Tesoros de Devoción exhibition opened at the Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum on July 20, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. and will be a long-term exhibition.
03/17/08 Old Spanish Trail
An exhibition celebrating the early trading route between Santa Fe and Los Angeles.