Museum Educator Melanie LaBorwit shows you how to cook up some homemade ornaments for your holiday decorations.
You can see all of our other Making History activities in our Making History playlist on our Youtube channel.
Christmas at the Palace Coloring Book
In 1997 the Palace Press worked with the artist Peter Aschwanden to create a Christmas at the Palace themed coloring book. Aschwanden adapted images from the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives into coloring pages.
Since everybody is spending so much time at home for this Christmas holiday – and we could not gather for Christmas at the Palace, we hope you and your children will enjoy spending time adding color to your own New Mexico Christmas.
You can download the coloring book to print out and color….or even color on your computer. Enjoy!
New Mexico Traditions: Biscochitos
Our museum educator has shared with us her version of this most classic of New Mexico holiday treats. If you are interested, you can download a PDF document of these instructions RIGHT HERE.
NMHM Fundraising Event: Castaneda Christmas Cooking Class
Saturday, December 19 at 11am-1pm
This Special Christmas Cooking Class held on Zoom will feature Sean Sinclair & Johnny Vee demonstrating how to make updated versions of classic Fred Harvey restaurant dishes.
Proceeds from this unique event will benefit NM History Museum Programming.
>>>>>> Follow this link for registration. <<<<<<
More information:
Join Chef/Proprietor Sean Sinclair live via zoom from the historic Castaneda Hotel in Las Vegas New Mexico as he shares some fantastic holiday recipes inspired by the famous Fred Harvey railroad hotel and restaurant empire–of which the recently restored hotel was the very first of its renowned resorts in the SW. Chef Sean Sinclair worked with hotel owners Allan Affeldt and Tina Mion (who got their start reviving La Posada in Winslow) to help lovingly restore the bar and dining room of this stately property overlooking the former Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe rail line.
Step back in time as he and fellow chef John Vollertson (Johnny Vee) demonstrate recipes you will want to add to your repertoire, with historical commentary by bestselling author Stephen Fried.
Proceeds from the cooking class benefit The New Mexico History Museum, which has the nation’s only major permanent exhibit about Fred Harvey, the Harvey Girls, design guru Mary Colter and the ATSF, and annually hosts on the Fred Harvey History Weekend in Santa Fe and Las Vegas–including the Fred Harvey Foodie Dinner.
Here’s the menu, all adapted from classic dishes Fred Harvey chefs served in their restaurants, hotels and dining cars:
Appetizer: Canape Cordova (Johnny Vee will riff on the classic Harvey canape of caviar, smoked salmon and artichoke on toast with chopped olive, onion and egg)
Soup: Bisque of Crab (Sean Sinclair will recreate one of the Harvey kitchens’ most beloved seafood bisques)
Entrée: Chicken Lucrecio (Sean Sinclair will explore the best-known early recipe from La Fonda foodie hero chef Konrad Allgaier, a special-spicy chicken with a gravy made with cumin, garlic, butter and almonds) served with Potatoes Sinclair.
Dessert: Chocolate Puffs with Strawberry Preserves (Johnny Vee will show you how to make the most famous Fred dessert–also known as “Harvey House Chocolate Puffs”—topped with fresh whipped cream)
For further information email fredharveyhistory@gmail.com
>>>>>> Follow this link for registration. <<<<<<
Today in History: Plan de San Luis Potosí
Today marks the 110th anniversary of the Plan de San Luis Potosí, which initiated the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). Written by Francisco I. Madero while in exile in Texas, the Plan called for an end to Porfirio Díaz’s long presidential reign known as the Porfiriato, the provisional presidency for legitimate winner Madero, and for Mexicans to unite against despotism on November 20, 1910. This Plan helped set into action a series of events and people who shaped Mexican life, politics, and art for the next ten years, and to this very day.
Some years ago, we had the privilege of showing Sen. Jeff and Anne Bingaman’s collection of prints from Mexico’s Taller de Gráfica Popular, an artist’s print collective, founded in 1937, that focused on sociopolitical art to further the goals of the Revolution. For those that didn’t get a chance to see the exhibition in person, we have our virtual tour of “A Mexican Mirror: Prints from the Taller de Gráfica Popular” here for your enjoyment. ¡Qué viva la Revolución!
You can visit the virtual tour here: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=pEybDvTQAYX
I
Dec 2, 2020, the next Friends of History 1st Weds Lecture: Cathleen Cahill presents Recasting the Vote.
Join us December 2nd at 12pm (MST) on our Youtube channel for December’s 1st Wednesday Lecture.
Will be joined by Dr. Cathleen Cahill, Associate Professor of History at Penn State University. Professor Cahill will tell the powerful stories of a multiracial group of activists who propelled the national suffrage movement toward a more inclusive vision of equal rights. Most suffrage stories are centered in the East and the Southwest as an afterthought at best. But Cahill asks what happens when we refocus the lens to center the stories in NM and the wider region? This talk reveals that suddenly our suffrage history is more diverse and more complicated than we anticipated. She will especially focus on New Mexico by exploring the important role of Spanish-speaking suffragists, the activism of African American women, and the debate over the Native American right to vote. With suffragists of color in the foreground, Cahill will recast the suffrage movement as an unfinished struggle that extended beyond the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.
Cathleen D. Cahill, PHD is associate professor of history at Penn State University and the author of Federal Fathers and Mothers: A Social History of the United States Indian Service, 1869–1933, winner of the 2011 Labriola Center American Indian National Book Award and finalist for the 2012 David J. Weber-Clements Prize, Western History Association.
Friends of History is a volunteer support group for the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Its mission is to raise funds and public awareness for the Museum’s exhibitions and programs. Friends of History fulfills its mission by offering high quality public history programs, including the First Wednesday Lecture Series. For more information, or to join the Friends of History, go to friends-of-history.org
You can find a playlist of previous 1st Wednesday Lectures on our youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/nmmuseum and also on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NewMexicoHistoryMuseum
Fred Harvey History Weekend: Nov 12-15, 2020
For 10 years the New Mexico History Museum has played host to the series of lectures that are a part of the Fred Harvey History Weekend. This annual event is a chance for “Fred Heads” from all over to converge on Santa Fe an regale themselves in all things Fred Harvey.
This year, the weekend event produced by MightMakesWriteLLC is moving entirely online due the COVID-19 situation we are facing.
The full roster of Harvey related talks, along with the Saturday night Foodie Dinner Demonstration* & Auction to benefit the History Museum programming with accessible with registration. has delved into the history and impact of this popular historic travel brand. This year, the event’s 11th, will be completely online, with streamed lectures, a virtual version of the highlight of the weekend, the Foodie Dinner & Auction to benefit programming at New Mexico History Museum.
For more information on the schedule of events visit:
https://one.bidpal.net/fredharvey2020/welcome
And to register to for tickets for any of the events, you can visit the event listing on eventbrite.
*The Dinner Demonstration offers an opportunity for you to learn how to prepare a contemporary take on classic Fred Harvey cuisine with top chefs from La Fonda and La Castaneda! You will receive an ingredient list ahead of time.
If you have any questions about the weekend events, please email mightmakeswritellc@gmail.com
From the Collection
A chair and step stool combination, c. 1870-1880. Most step stools, being utilitarian, are plain wood or metal, but this one is covered in beautiful needlepoint. Perhaps it was to prevent slipping? The item was said to have been brought to New Mexico over the Santa Fe Trail.
The twill tape ties on the legs in the first photograph indicate to Collections staff that the chair comes apart at that point and to be careful when lifting the object.
New Mexico History Museum’s small business project featured on KRQE
Museum curator Alicia Romero spoke with KRQE news about the research project about small independent businesses serving communities throughout New Mexico. We are seeking input from the public about their experience and memories of these small businesses which will help inform a future exhibit.
For more details and how to submit your own suggestion, check out this recent blogpost.
Local favorites
What’s your favorite New Mexico small business?
Were you the owner? Did your family run one for decades and decades? Did you work for one? Or did you just frequent a favorite shop around the corner?
The New Mexico History Museum is researching historic and modern small businesses to explore for a possible exhibition in the future.
New Mexico has many memorable and iconic establishments that would help to tell this story. In particular, we’d like to focus on sole-proprietor operations and family-owned businesses that sold goods or provided services to local communities in every part of the state.
(We’d like to avoid national chains and franchises.)
We’re looking for corner stores, tienditas, general stores, barber shops, moms & pops, cobblers, meat markets, bookstores, record stores, radio stores, repair shops, feed stores, trading posts, very small restaurants and cafes, tailors and seamstresses, laundries, bicycle shops, and so on, that were unique, characteristic, or served as anchors in their neighborhood or town.
Here’s a very simple form where you can add ideas from anywhere in the state.
https://forms.gle/wmuUvhfkVBjoyaBSA
Thanks for your help! Please spread the word to anyone who might be interested.