Three Wise Women: Eva Scott Fenyes (1849–1930), Leonora Scott Muse Curtin (1879–1972), Leonora Curtin Paloheimo (1903–1999)

(SIDE 1) Three generations of one family worked more than 100 years to preserve the cultural heritage of New Mexico. Eva Fenyes created an artistic and photographic record of missions and adobe buildings, and preserved Spanish Colonial and Native American crafts. Leonora S. M. Curtin wrote Healing Herbs of the Upper Rio Grande, which documented the ethnobotany of the region and the plants used by traditional healers. (SIDE 2) Leonora Curtin Paloheimo worked to preserve New Mexico’s varied cultures. She researched Native American languages for the Smithsonian. During the Depression, she founded The Native Market as an outlet for Spanish American artisans who handcrafted traditional furniture and household items. She and her Finnish husband, George Paloheimo, established New Mexico’s first living history museum, El Rancho de las Golondrinas, in 1972.

Roadside Marker Location: Santa Fe County, US I-25, Mile Marker 270

You can view a county by county list of the Historic Women Mile Markers in this pdf.

You can view a map of the Historic Women Mile Markers at www.nmhistoricwomen.org

March is Women’s History Month. During this month we’ll be highlighting some of the women featured on New Mexico’s Historic Women Roadside Markers. Text provided by our colleagues at New Mexico Historic Preservation Division