The Historical Society of New Mexico (HSNM) and New Mexico State Monuments are pleased to announce that they will be hosting a day of teachers’ sessions and workshops at the Lincoln State Monument on Saturday, May 7. These will be held in the historic San Juan Mission Church in old Lincoln Town and are a part of the 2011 New Mexico History Conference to be held in Lincoln County on May 5 – 8. The workshops will be focused on the history and impacts of New Mexico’s achieving statehood in 1912 and are part of the commemoration of the Statehood Centennial. Other sessions of the Conference will be ongoing at the Ruidoso Convention Center on May 6 and 7.
The day’s special presentations for teachers will begin with a lecture by Richard Melzer of the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus on New Mexico’s struggles to attain statehood. Professor Melzer will use political cartoons from the period to illustrate the intensity of the statehood process.
This will be followed by Professor Jon Hunner and students from the New Mexico State University’s Time Travels program with a presentation on “Teaching Statehood in the Classroom.” This Chautauqua-type presentation will bring to life the events and period surrounding the final signing of the New Mexico statehood bill by President William H. Taft on January 6, 1912.
In the afternoon of May 7, teachers will participate in workshops focused on guides and curricula for teaching statehood history. These workshops will be presented by Professor Rebecca Sánchez of the University of New Mexico’s Education Department and Janet Saiers, President of the Albuquerque Historical Society. More than 50 teachers have registered for the May 7 sessions in Lincoln.
The teachers’ 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.
The morning presentations on May 7 will be open to the public, space permitting. There will be afternoon presentations, open to all Monument visitors, by Lincoln County Historical Society members in six of the historic buildings that are part of Lincoln State Monument. This will be followed by special presentations at the nearby Fort Stanton State Monument, including tours of the new Visitor Center and Museum in the beautifully renovated 1855 Administration Building, hosted by members of Fort Stanton, Inc. and New Mexico State Monuments’ staff.
A full program for the 2011 New Mexico History Conference can be found at the Historical Society of New Mexico’s website, www.hsnm.org.
Lincoln and Fort Stanton State Monuments are New Mexico State Monuments administered under the Department of Cultural Affairs. Lincoln State Monument is located on Hwy 380, 12 miles east of Capitan and 57 miles west of Roswell. Fort Stanton State Monument is located 7 miles SE of Capitan near U.S. 380, approximately 13 miles southwest from Lincoln State Monument. For more information on the New Mexico State Monuments, please visit www.nmmonuments.org, or 505-476-1152.