Arlington Graves Database

From an article published in the Los Angeles Times website Teen Makes Digital Record of Arlington Graves:

Ricky Gilleland, a tech-savvy 11th-grader, has created the only digitized record of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.


Richard "Ricky" Gilleland III — 11th-grader and Junior Future Business Leaders of America computer ace — has succeeded where the Army failed: He has created the only digitized record of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans laid to rest at Arlington. His website, preserveandhonor.com, is a reverent catalog of the fallen, and one young man's response to a scandal of Army mismanagement, mismarked graves and unmarked remains that has rocked this hallowed place for two years.

To search this database, click on this link.

Meeting about Special Collections Library - April 30th, 10:30 AM

Albuquerque Main Library
501 Copper Ave NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
April 30, 2011, 10:30 AM



URGENT NOTICE:


There will be a meeting to discuss the future of Special Collection Genealogical and Historical Collections at the Main Library on SATURDAY, APRIL 30th at 10:30am, Lower Level of the Library.

If you can, Please attend ...

This is our chance for library directors to hear the concerns of Special Collections users. Regardless of where SCL ends up, we need to have our concerns known.

What can we do about parking? Can we get access to more restrooms at Main? Requests for better accommodation of electrical outlets for laptops, etc. ... What are the things we like about both locations and hope to keep? We have complaints, praises and suggestions that we talk about to each other ... if we really want anything known and/or done about them, we need to let the directors know ... it's up to us.

This is a very important meeting ... if just to show support for our genealogy library and our librarians ... come to show how much we do need and appreciate them.

GSHA Conference - August 5-7, 2011

The following notice was sent to us via email. We'd like to share it with you.

The Genealogical Society of Hispanic America (GSHA) presents their Annual Meeting and Conference in Las Vegas, New Mexico, August 5-7, 2011 at the Historic Plaza Hotel. The theme, "Discovering Our Shared Ancestors", will incorporate topics ranging from DNA and the impact of technology on genealogy research, to the history of Fort Union, the Rough Riders and our early ancestors’ activities in the southwest. Additional details and a registration form are available at http://www.gsha.net/ or contact Charlene Garcia Simms, PO Box 3357, Pueblo, CO 81005.

May14, 2011 NMGS Program

Saturday, May 14, 2011, at 10:30 am

2nd Floor of Main Library
501 Copper NW, Albuquerque New Mexico (505-768-5131)
(Click here to view map.)




The New Mexico Genealogical Society,
the State Historian's Office, & the Special Collections Library
present

David Snow
“DOÑA de MALA VITA”
 
The well-known feud involving Lamy’s Vicar General, Machebeuf and Padre Gallegos, the pastor at San Felipe de Neri, is revisited by David Snow from the State Historian’s Office. Much of the controversy surrounded Gallegos’ relation-ship with Dona Maria de Jesus Trujillo who elicited a variety of opinions

• An independent woman from Santa Fe’s upper crust society per Janet LeCompte

• Was called a prostitute by Padre Antonio Martinez

• Thought by Angelico Chavez to be Mexican-born and so her behavior should be excused!

• Referred to as "Dona de mala vita" & "that damned female" by Machebeuf

Emotions have always run high concerning this ménage á trois but Snow gives us a long-overdue, unbiased overview of the genealogy and history of Trujillo as well as a factual account of her involvement with Gallegos, Machebeuf, and San Felipe parish.

David Snow is an historical archaeologist living in Albuquerque who has written numerous articles and books regarding New Mexico historical sites &; personalities. His works include, New Mexico’s First Colonists & History and Archaeology of San Felipe Church.

• Educated at UNM and Brandeis University

• Former staff archaeologist at Museum of NM Laboratory of Anthropology

• Owned Cross-Cultural Resource Systems – a resource management company

• Former history curator at the Palace of the Governors

This program is free and open to the public.

A summary of this presentation is available here.

New Mexico Villages Handout

Did you miss our April 16th presentation: "Genealogy of a Village: The How and Why of Researching New Mexico Villages"? If you did, you missed a good presentation. Francelle Alexander explained how using histories, memoirs and other written material, a genealogist may create a family or local history.

Since she focused on the Rio Abajo, she wrote up a selected bibliography for that area. It is a great resource for material on central and southern New Mexico. Click on this link to view her "Selected Bibliography of New Mexico Hispanic Villages".

Enjoy.

Historical Society of NM Conference May 5-8, 2011

This was sent to our society via email. Please remember this is an announcement for the Historical Society of New Mexico, NOT the New Mexico Genealogical Society. Our society is not responsible for this announcement, nor is it putting on the conference. If you have any questions about the conference, contact the Historical Society of New Mexico. Their website is below.

Historical Society of New Mexico


For Immediate Release

Historical Society of New Mexico announces 2011 New Mexico HIstory Conference in Lincoln County, May 5 - 8.

The Historical Society of New Mexico, along with its partners, the Lincoln County Historical Society, New Mexico State Monuments, Fort Stanton, Inc., ENMU-Ruidoso, and the Hubbard Museum are pleased to announce the 2011 New Mexico History Conference to be held in Ruidoso and other venues in Lincoln County, May 5 - 8. An opening reception and conference registration will be held at the Hubbard Museum on Thursday, May 5, from 4 to 6 PM. Program sessions will take place at the Ruidoso Convention Center from 8:30 to 5 PM on Friday, May 6 and from 8:30 to 12:00 PM on Saturday, May 7.

The conference program includes four parallel sessions at the Convention Center, with a number of program presentations focusing on Lincoln County and the region. A highlight for those interested in Lincoln County history is a session, starting at 8:30 on Friday morning, on “Lincoln County Warriors” presented by current Lincoln County Historical Society President, Gary Cozzens, and past-President Herb Marsh. There will also be three sessions later in the conference on the history of Fort Stanton.

On Friday evening from 5:30 to 7:00 PM in the Ruidoso Convention Center , the Historical Society of New Mexico will hold a book auction, followed by its Annual Awards Banquet from 7 to 9 PM. Two Lincoln County residents will be receiving awards from the Society. The first is Jay Smith, who is receiving the Society’s most prestigious award, the Edgar Lee Hewett Award, given for outstanding service to the public. Smith is currently the interim Director of the Silver City Museum, the President of the Mountain Plains Museum Association, and the Vice-President of the Lincoln County Historical Society. The second Lincoln County awardee is Diane Prather, who is receiving the Society’s Bradford Prince Award for significant work in the field of historic preservation, in particular, her efforts in preserving the Nogal Mesa Ranger Station barn.

Conference registration is open to all, with registration fees for the full conference starting at $35 for a single session and $75 for the full conference. In addition to the opening reception at the Hubbard Museum on May 5, registration will be available all through the sessions on May 6 and 7 at the Ruidoso Convention Center. Full-time students may register for $10 and New Mexico K-12 teachers can attend for free.


There will also be a day of teachers’ sessions and workshops at the Lincoln State Monument on Saturday, May 7. The workshops will be focused on the history and impact of New Mexico’s achieving statehood in 1912 and are part of the statewide commemoration of the Statehood Centennial. These teachers’s sessions and workshops are being supported by the Historical Society of New Mexico and private donors, by a grant from the New Mexico Humanities Council, and by funding from the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

A full program for the 2011 New Mexico History Conference can be found at the Historical Society of New Mexico’s website, http://www.hsnm.org/.

New Mexican U.S. Congressmen (and one woman)

Do you have an ancestor or other relative who served in the United States Congress? Even before New Mexico was a state, there were a number of men who represented New Mexico as a non-voting members of congress. There are a number of websites that include information about the history and biography of our state's congressional delegations.


If you're looking for a list of people who served on Congress, you can go to the New Mexico Secretary of State's website. On the site are complete digital copies of the last two New Mexico Blue Books. In "Federal" section of the 2009-2010 Blue Book is a list of New Mexico representatives who served on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives - their names and terms of service.


Biographies of U.S. Congressmen - and one Congresswoman, Heather Wilson - can be found in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. A search engine on the site allows you to search for any specific person you wish - or if you would like to read the biographies of all the congressmen from New Mexico, just search for "New Mexico" under the "state" drop box. A Facebook buddy of mine pointed me to this website, which featured an ancestor of his who served as a delegate from the Territory of New Mexico, Jose Francisco Chaves. From the Biography Directory of the United States Website:

CHAVES, José Francisco, a Delegate from the Territory of New Mexico; born in Padillas, Mexico (now New Mexico), June 27, 1833; attended schools in St. Louis, Mo.; studied medicine at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons; engaged in the stock-raising business in the Territory of New Mexico; president of the Territorial council for eight sessions; major of the First New Mexico Infantry in the Union Army during the Civil War; promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel; took part in the Battle of Valverde in 1862; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1865-March 3, 1867); successfully contested the election of Charles P. Clever to the Fortieth Congress; reelected to the Forty-first Congress and served from February 20, 1869, to March 3, 1871; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1870 to the Forty-second Congress; engaged in farming and stock raising; district attorney of the second judicial district 1875-1877; member and president of the State constitutional convention in 1889; State superintendent of public instruction from 1903 until his death; appointed State historian of New Mexico in 1903, but died before his term of service began; assassinated in Pinos Wells (near Cedar Vale, Torrance County), N.Mex., November 26, 1904; interment in the United States National Cemetery at Santa Fe, N.Mex.

Another good site is the Library of Congress. You can find photographs, biographies and other information on the website. A particular book that is found complete online is the title "Hispanic Americans in Congress". This book includes a table of contents with names that you can click on to read the particular congressman's biography.