Category Archives: Behind the Scenes
Keith Wilson: A Desert Voice
I write down the words I hear, but I know it is the Dead who speak them. Keith Wilson (1927-2009) from “The Voices of My Desert” While Dancing Feet Shatter the Earth (Utah State University Press, 1978) [In recognition of National Poetry Month, we have a guest…
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The Open Stacks: One-Year Anniversary
Last year, due to the global pandemic, the Archives and Special Collections (ASC) had to adapt to the new normal of relying on technology to continue to serve our users. Before the pandemic, we provided in-person reference assistance and class instructional sessions in the Caroline E. Stras Research Room. These served as great opportunities to…
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An Archivist’s COVID-19 Journal, Part V: Year 1
Today marks the one-year anniversary of receiving my work-from-home mandate. The uncertainty over the rapidly spreading coronavirus prompted NMSU leadership to order nearly all university employees to begin teleworking. I wrote about the COVID-19 pandemic in four previous posts, but have not provided an update since last July. As I have been working back on…
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Guest Post: Larry Creider, former special collections librarian and ASC Department Head
ASC staff occasionally publishes guest posts from former New Mexico State University Library employees. These guest posts help capture the history of the library and department, as well as document the work of librarians and archivists in southern New Mexico. Our first guest post comes from Larry Creider, emeritus professor, who spent 16 years at…
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Ramón Ortíz and Mesilla’s Beginnings
You know how sometimes you’re looking for one thing, but you end up finding something else? It’s usually that way when I’m looking for batteries around my house. When I’m looking for the AAs, I find the 9 volts. When I need a 9 volt, I only find the AAAs. But on some rare occasions you find…
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The Wendell Chino papers – Mescalero Apache Leader, New Mexico Legend
While NMSU Archives and Special Collections (ASC) has long held significant collections of political content, particularly in the Rio Grande Historical Collections, the Library’s manuscript repository, the Political Collections unit was not created until 2008. Nearly 2,000 linear feet of records from Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) were donated then and the university hired a…
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About Archives and Special Collections
This six-minute video provides a brief introduction to some of the collections and resources in the NMSU Library’s Archives and Special Collections department, including our website, the Open Stacks blog, and the Rocky Mountain Online Archive.
2020 Border Archives Bazaar
Join in discussions with your archival questions, take virtual tours of local repositories, and hear presentations about archives, history, and culture with a focus on the New Mexico, Texas, Chihuahua borderlands region. Date: Thursday, October 29th Time: Noon – 4:00 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time) Register: https://forms.gle/J3q3zBtDKPAdiJaC8 Follow: https://www.facebook.com/BRarchives Schedule Noon-12:15 – Welcome and introduction, Border…
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Historic Cookery
As October is Hispanic Heritage Month and American Archives Month, the staff of Archives & Special Collections (ASC) decided to select a recipe from Historic Cookery, a groundbreaking New Mexico cookbook held by ASC, and prepare some of its traditional dishes. In 1931, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert published the cookbook, Historic Cookery, as…
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J. Paul Taylor: Educator, Civic Leader and Politician
On August 24, 2020, J. Paul Taylor celebrated his 100th birthday. Due to the current health crisis, an in-person celebration was not held as in the past. Instead, a virtual centennial celebration was held to honor Mr. Taylor, where family and friends sent digital birthday greetings and recollections. For those not familiar with J. Paul…
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