Tag Archives: santa fe

New Mexico History Museum makes new Gustave Baumann collections available to researchers

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Gustave Baumann and marionettes, circa 1959

Santa Fe, NM – New Mexico History Museum (NMHM) is the home for new collections about the life and work of internationally acclaimed artist and printer Gustave Baumann. Born in Germany, Baumann was an internationally noted printer and artist who settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1918. He died in 1971. 

In 2021, the Ann Baumann Trust donated a substantial collection of Gustave Baumann’s documents and photographs to NMHM. The new gift, along with previously donated Baumann material, is now open to researchers by appointment.  

The newly available papers include Baumann’s correspondence with his wide circle of friends, his annual hand-printed Christmas cards, letters between museum collections throughout the United States, photographs of Santa Fe, and the naturalization certificate he received upon becoming a United States citizen in 1904. Some of the materials were previously featured in In a Modern Rendering: The Color Woodcuts of Gustave Baumann: A Catalogue Raisonné by Gala Chamberlain and Nancy E. Green, published by Rizzoli Electa. In addition to archival materials, the donation included more than 200 of Baumann’s wood printing blocks.

“These materials provide detailed insights into Gustave Baumann’s personal relationships and business practices. They are an important resource for anyone wanting to better understand Mr. Baumann and his times,” said Billy G. Garrett, executive director of NMHM. 

The work has been spearheaded by Alice Wehling, a contract archivist working with museum staff, who processed and organized the collection, and Madisyn Rostro, a project collections assistant who catalogued and photographed the wood print blocks. Funding for this work was provided by the Ann Baumann Trust.  

Baumann family marionettes, circa 1959

Researchers, including art collectors and students of Southwestern history, can discover what’s available by browsing new finding aids that describe the organization and content of the collection. The finding aids for both the papers and photographs are now available via the New Mexico Archives Online website. Researchers who wish to see the Baumann papers should arrange an appointment with the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library; appointments to view photographs should be made with the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives. The next phase of the project will selectively digitize items from the collections and make them available online. 

Other Baumann-related materials, principally his artwork and marionettes, are included in the collections of the New Mexico Museum of Art, also a part of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.  

From the Collection: Coffee Talk

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NMHM/DCA 00194.45

Who could use an extra cup of coffee this morning?

Shapleigh Coffee Co. tin canister used in the Dietrich family in Santa Fe during the late 19th century. Established in 1796 in Boston, MA, the former Allen, Shapleigh, & Co. coffee manufacturer was well-known on the East Coast for their “mocha java” blend. While we’re not certain how this canister came to New Mexico – either via wagon train or on the rails – the Dietrichs may have used this canister to store other goods long after the Shapleigh coffee ran out.

This yellow, orange, and gray painted canister measures 19.75” high and 16.75” wide with a depth of 15.75.”

The Latest from the Palace Press: Ernie O’Malley & Dorothy Stewart in NM

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Just off the press,
The Press at the Palace of the Governors is pleased to announce the release of ERNIE O’MALLEY & DOROTHY STEWART IN NEW MEXICO

The title of the book comes from the 1929 diary entry of Ernie O’Malley, written in Taos, New Mexico. It is self-conversation that begins with Ernie asking, “What the hell are you doing near Indian country?” It goes on to reveal the philosophy and values of the young general in the Irish war for independence as he seeks new experiences in America. Shortly after this was recorded, he met artist Dorothy Newkirk Stewart, who lived at El Zaguán on Canyon Road in Santa Fe. The two forged a friendship based on a shared commitment to the arts, travel, and indigenous cultures that took them around New Mexico and on to Mexico.

Introduced by Cormac O’Malley, the book is a hybrid cross of an album amicorum – a friendship book – and an informal artist book, juxtaposing the words of Ernie O’Malley and early prints by Dorothy Stewart. Inspired by Dorothy’s at times “throw caution to the wind” approach to book design, we meandered into book-making parts unknown on the way to completion. Dimensions, typography, and papers were tried and ruled out until we arrived at a book you will want to caress. It won’t take long to read, but you will return to it again and again. You may even recognize yourself in it, for honestly, who of us hasn’t had a similar self-conversation?

The set type for a page and the resulting print.

With 48 pages measuring 5 x 7.5 inches, 100 copies of this letterpress edition were printed. The soft-cover binding is based on the popular travelers’ journals that we make and sell at the Palace Press. Our friend Patricia Musick, who knows more about Irish lettering than nearly anyone, designed the lettering for the title page, and also the monogram of the entwined EOM and DNS initials used on the half-title page. Text papers are Biblio and handmade Moravia, and the cover paper is a rare handmade by John Koller. It was marbled by Thomas Leech, who along with James Bourland, did the presswork. The typefaces, all handset, are Goudy Oldstyle and University of California, with Colum Cille used judiciously for the headings. That typeface was designed as a Gaelic alphabet in the 1930s and is named for the Irish monk, scribe and saint.

A shot of the paper marbeling process.

Marking NM’s Historic Women: Nina Otero-Warren

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Photo Credit: Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
Maria Adelina Emilia Otero Warren (1881 – 1965), New Mexico
Date: 1930?
Negative Number: 089756

Nina Otero-Warren (1881–1965)

Maria Adelina Isabel Emilia (Nina) Otero–Warren was born into two of New Mexico’s prominent Spanish colonial families near Los Lunas. A leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement, in 1922 she was the first woman in state history to run for Congress. A political and social reformer, she worked as Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent and for the WPA. In 1936, she wrote Old Spain in Our Southwest.

Roadside Marker Location: Valencia County, Los Lunas, US Hwy 314

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

Marking NM’s Historic Women: Mother Magdalen & the Sisters of Loretto

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Photo Credit: Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
Loretto Academy and Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Date: ca. 1887-1902
Negative Number 072294
Caption reads: “Convent and Chapel – Our Lady of Light”.

Mother Magdalen and the Sisters of Loretto

(Side 1) Four Sisters of Loretto, Mother Magdalen Hayden and Sisters Roberta Brown, Rosana Dant and Catherine Mahoney, arrived in Santa Fe from Kentucky on September 26, 1852. In January 1853 they established Our Lady of Light Academy, later known as Loretto, the first school for young women in the Territory of New Mexico. (Side 2) Between 1863 and 1879 the Sisters with the help of local people raised funds to build the Loretto Chapel. During the next century, hundreds of women, many of them of Hispanic heritage joined, joined the Sisters of Loretto. Lucia Perea became the first native-born New Mexican superior at Loretto, Santa Fe in 1896.

Roadside Marker Location: Santa Fe County, Alameda Street city of Santa Fe

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

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

Today in History

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Santa Fe Trail wagon ruts near Fort Union, New Mexico
Photographer: Wyatt Davis
Date: 1939?
From the New Mexico Magazine collection,Negative Number HP.2007.20.105

On this day in history, Jan. 29, 1822, William Becknell, founder of the Santa Fe Trail, returns to Franklin, Missouri, after his first trading expedition to Santa Fe. Legend has it that Spanish gold and silver coins fell from his leather pouch onto the streets, sparking a “trade rush.”

From the Collection

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Zozobra Armature (model-framework)
Will Shuster ca. 1935
Gift of the Santa Fe Kiwanis Club
NMHM/DCA 11476.45

Zozobra, a.k.a. Old Man Gloom, was first created by Santa Fe artist, Will Shuster, in 1924. The first public burning of Zozobra was held in a vacant lot behind the Santa Fe City Hall in Sept 3, 1926. Each year in early September, Old Man Gloom is burned to rid us of anguish, anxiety, and gloom, while commemorating the start of the Santa Fe Fiestas. Shuster’s creation first appeared in his backyard as a six-foot puppet. Over the years, Zozobra has grown to a monstrous fifty-foot high marionette.

Upon the reopening of the New Mexico History Museum, you can view the model of Zozobra on display in the exhibition “Looking Back.”

mage:
Zozobra, Santa Fe Fiesta, 1950
Photographer: Henry Dendahl
Palace of the Governors Photo Archives # 057747

Due to the COVID-19 health crisis, this year’s burning of Zozobra will be a no-crowd event held this evening at 8pm MDT. You can watch the burning on your television or go online at KOAT Channel 7, and at www.KOAT.com.

Photo credit:
The “Gloomies” dance in front of Zozobra, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1981
Photo by Mark Lennihan
Palace of the Governors Photo Archives # HP.2014.14.1636

Recently, the Museum Foundation of New Mexico hosted a talk (below) by New Mexico Museum of Art curator Christian Waguespack on the origin of the Zozobra festivities and its link to similar observances in various communities and cultures.

From the Collection

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Hand carved and painted brooch, History Collection NMHM/DCA 2017.004.020

Kunitaro Takeuchi (1887–1972) was a Japanese native who migrated to Hawai’i in his early twenties, right around the turn of the century where he married his wife Hana, had a family, and worked as a photographer. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, signed on 19 February 1942, authorized the apprehension and incarceration of people believed to be conspirators and sympathizers to the Axis powers during World War II. This order primarily targeted people of Japanese, Italian, and German descent, many of them being US citizens.  In May 1942, the Takeuchi family was forced out of Hawai’i as “Group 3” of Nisei and Issei (first- and second-generation Japanese Americans) identified for holding at internment camps. Kunitaro Takeuchi, then in his mid-fifties, was imprisoned at the Santa Fe Internment Camp for the duration of the war. The 80-acre Department of Justice camp, where St. Francis Drive and West Alameda Street are now located, held 4555 men and operated from 1942-1946, nearly a year after the war was over.

Wooden sculpture, History Collection NMHM/DCA 2017.004.024 

There, Kunitaro Takeuchi carved these pieces, among many others, and collected cigar boxes full of rocks from the camp area. He received many rocks as gifts from others at the camp as well. The New Mexico History Museum is honored to care for these pieces of history that remind us about the sacrifices Japanese Americans made during this period of unjust persecution in our national history. 

Here is a June 2019 article about the Japanese Internment camps in New Mexico from Pasatiempo.