February 2025 NM History & Culture Opportunities

The Albuquerque Historical Society & the Historical Society of NM

Encourage your participation in the following history & cultural events:


BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Special exhibit at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, 601 Eubank NE showcasing the accomplishments of numerous Black scientists.

THE ALBUQUERQUE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 16, 2pm, free. Terry Owen speaks about The Crash of TWA Flight 260 which occurred February 1955. Much of the wreckage is still in the Sandia Mountains. Free parking & free admission to the ABQ Museum in Old Town. albuqhistsoc.org.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEW MEXICO. New Mexico became the 47th state on January 6, 1912. Read about it, https://newmexicohistory.org/nm-journey-to-become-a-state/. Visit – NewMexicoHistory.org to view thousands of entries: photos, videos, podcasts, Timelines for the five periods of NM History & More! The New Mexico State Historian Rob Martinez can be reached at 505-476-7911.

ART PROJECTS, GAMES, BIRDS & NATURE STUDY, CONCERTS, CAREER EXPLORATION, COMPUTER TRAINING, COOKING, & MORE – ACTIVITIES FOR ALL AGES AT THE BRANCHES OF THE ABC LIBRARY SYSTEM, Go to abqlibrary.org to review listing by location, days and times! Be sure to look for all kinds of free family & children’s activities. Programs this month involving Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day and more.

Guided hikes on Thursdays at Piedras Marcadas Canyon starting at 1:30 pm. These hikes are 1.5 miles total in length with little to no elevation gain. There are no amenities in the Piedras Marcadas Canyon parking lot. Bring water with you and dress for the weather. Located at 9501 Golf Course Rd NW in Albuquerque. Double check for unexpected closures. Call 899-0205. Your guide is Joseph Weixelman Ph.D.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument free ranger led hikes at 11 am. Saturdays at Abo and Sundays at Quarai. More information at nps.gov/sapu/planyourvisit or call 847-2585 X 221.

See the award winning photographs from the New Mexico Magazine Contest. Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography, 401 12th Street in Carrizozo, NM. Some 35 award winning images. Open Fri/Sat 10am-5pm and Sunday 12 noon-5pm. Call 575-937-1489 to make other time appointments.


FEBRUARY 1, 9am-12 noon. Come help clean up Historic Fairview Cemetery, 700 Yale SE. Wear hard soled shoes and bring your own tools. The cemetery is open dawn to dusk and accessible through the gates of Fairview Memorial Park. www.HistoricFairviewCemeteryABQ.org or Facebook.com/The communityofHistoricFairviewCemetery. “Where the Past meets the Present”.

FEBRUARY 4, 12 noon-1pm, free. Wildwoods, Concert of folk & American music. South Valley Library,  3904 Isleta SW.  877-5170.

FEBRUARY 5, 12 noon, by Zoom, free. Leo Oliva, Ph.D.  speaks on Network of Conquests: Military Posts and the Santa Fe Trail. NM History Museum Friends of History. Go to the website FriendsofHistoryNM.org/lecture-series/ to watch this and the past lectures on their YouTube channel.

FEBRUARY 5, 12 noon-1pm, free. The Wildwoods present folk American Music. Pat Baca/ Central & Unser Library, 8081 Central NW, 768-4320. Sponsored by AMP Concerts.

FEBRUARY 6, 7 pm, ch. 5.1, KNME. Eating History: NM’s Relationship with Food. Replays Ch. 5.4, Feb. 7, 9pm.

FEBRUARY 6, 13, 20, 27, 1:30 pm, free. Guided hikes on Thursdays at Piedras Marcadas Canyon. These hikes are 1.5 miles total in length. No amenities in the Piedras Marcadas Canyon parking lot. Bring water with you and dress for the weather. Located at 9501 Golf Course Rd NW in Albuquerque. Double check for unexpected closures. Call 899-0205. Your guide is Joseph Weixelman Ph.D.

FEBRUARY 7, 5-8 pm, free. ALBUQUERQUE ARTS CRAWL, Open house at various art galleries around ABQ, meet and visit with artists in person. artscrawlabq.com.

FEBRUARY 7, 5-8 PM, free. Albuquerque Downtown Art Walk along Central Avenue between 1st & 8th streets and adjacent streets. Vendors, music, food, arts & crafts.

FEBRUARY 8, 11 am-1pm, free. Saturday at the Refuge. Includes  activities, arts & crafts, fun, and refreshments. Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, 7851 2nd St. SW, 248-6667. www.fws.gov>refuge>valle-de-oro.

FEBRUARY 8, 10:30-12 noon, free. The NM Japanese American Citizens League players present a multi-media program about the lives of Japanese American who were incarcerated during WWII. Special Collections Library, 423 Central NE. Be aware of on-street parking restrictions.

FEBRUARY 8, 10:30-12 noon, free. Type In! Public Typewriter Gathering. Come use typewriters that are 50, 60 even 100 years old! Special paper provided. Limit of 88 participants. Juan Tabo Library, 3407 Juan Tabo NE, 291-6260.

FEBRUARY 8, 11am-12 noon, free. Tour the 1850s historic Gutierrez Hubbell House, 6029 Isleta SW. Contact David Ottaviano at 350-5117 or dottaviano@bernco.gov.

FEBRUARY 8, 5:30-7 pm, free. The Haunted Old Santa Fe Prison program details the 1980 state prison riot. Must be age 18 to attend. Erna Fergusson Library,  3700 San Mateo NE, 888-8100.

FEBRUARY 8, 1-3 pm, free. 150th anniversary of Casa San Ysidro with an open house of the entire facility, demos. Casa San Ysidro has art, tools, and furniture from the 18th & 19th centuries. Contact Aaron Gardner, agardner@cabq.gov, 898-3915. 973 Old Church Rd. In Corrales.

FEBRUARY 8, 10 am-4pm, free. Regular monthly book sale by the Friends of the ABQ BernCo Public Library. Main branch, 5th & Copper NW. Two hour free parking across the street at the City garage. Bring your ticket in to be stamped.

FEBRUARY 8/9 12 noon, fee. Cultural dances, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. indianpueblo.org.

FEBRUARY 9, 2-4 pm, free. Rapheal Begay, a Dine Visual artist, presents story telling and photography. UNM Continuing Ed center, 1634 University NE. Sponsored by the NM Holocaust and Intolerance Museum and Dist. 4 Bernalillo County.

FEBRUARY 9 – The Sandoval County Historical Society February program takes place at Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. The Sandoval County Museum is at 161 Homestead Lane, located between the Santa Ana Star Casino and Coronado Historic Site, just north of 550, turn at the dirt road by the IHOP. SandovalHistory.org. 505-867-2755.

FEBRUARY 9, 2-4 pm, free. Annual meeting of the Valencia County Historical Society. Belen Public Library,  333 Becker St. Sponsored by the Valencia County Historical Society.

FEBRUARY 10, 11:30am, free.  Albuquerque Press Women & Friends. A speaker from the Mayor’s office will describe the accomplishments and challenges in dealing with the unhoused population of ABQ. In-person at Weck’s Restaurant, 7301 Paseo del Norte NE.  (You may purchase food/beverage.) More info from lockettabq@comcast.net. Sponsored by Albuquerque Press Women and Friends

FEBRUARY 11, 6:30 pm, free. Hiding in Plain sight: Water & Soil management in prehistoric southwest Agriculture. Presented by Jon Sandor from Iowa State U and Maryann Wasiolecks. Sandia Ranger Station in Tijeras. Presented by Friends of Tijeras Pueblo. More information at FriendsofTijerasPueblo.org.

FEBRUARY 11, 7pm, free by zoom. Learn the History of Flamenco presented by former deputy state historian Nicolasa Chavez. Sponsored by the NM Jewish Historical Society & the NM Humanities Council. More info at nmjhs.org then select events. 348-4471.

FEBRUARY 11, 7 pm, free. Dr. Miriam E. Hiebert discusses her book, The Uranium Club. Sponsored by the Los Alamos Historical Society. Fuller Lodge, 2132 Central Ave. More info at LosAlamosHistory.org.

FEBRUARY 12. University of NM “Big Give day”. 24 hours where you may donate to any specific program at UNM. More info at unmBigGive.UNMFund.org.

FEBRUARY 12, Birthday of Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States, 1809-1865.

FEBRUARY 13, 10am-1pm, free. Love in the Archives -Celebrate arts, technology and creativity. See how these have changed through the collection of the Center for Southwest Research, UNM Zimmerman Library Waters Room. Also some of the Dr. Harold Bailey archive will be on display. Make cards, crafts, refreshments. Contact Jennifer Buster, jbuster@unm.edu for more information. 277-4416.

FEBRARY 13, free. Ancestors Lecture presents Human Environmental dynamics in South America with Professor Jo Osborn. Maxwell Museum. 500 University NE. MaxwellMuseum.unm.edu.

FEBRUARY 13 – COLORES/PBS/KNME – Clara Bell Williams, NM’s Pioneer in Education. Ch. 5.1, 7pm then repeats on ch. 5.4, 9pm, FEB 14.  Blackdom, Ch. 5.1, 7:30 pm repeats on Ch. 5.4, 9 pm

FEBRUARY 14, 3-4 pm, free. Come experience Ikebana Flower arranging in the Japanese tradition. Open to just 16 participants ages 18 and up. Lomas Tramway Library, 908 Eastridge NE, 291-6295.

FEBRUARY 15, 10:30-11:30 am, free. Pioneering Presence for Libraries and  Women in New Mexico: Stella Dixon. Presented by historian Joe Sabatini. Dixon was City librarian from 1918-1935 guiding the library thru the flu pandemic, construction of the 1925 Main library and the Depression. Main Library, 5th & Copper NW. Free parking across in the COA garage.

FEBRUARY 15, 2pm, free Maria de Agrada “The Blue Nun” presented by Martha Vera, honorary consul of Spain. Manzano Mountain Art Council Speaker Series, 101 Broadway in Mountainair.

FEBRUARY 15, 5-6:30 pm, free but register in advance. Sunset Hike in the Bosque. Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors NW. CONTACT Nick Bachand, 768-4951 or nbachand@cabq.gov.

FEBRUARY 16, 2 pm, free. Terry Owen speaks about the crash of TWA flight into the Sandia Mountains in February 1955. Albuquerque Historical Society. Free Parking south of the Museum & free admission to the ABQ Museum in Old Town. albuqhistsoc.org

FEBRUARY 16, 2 PM, free. Jon Ghahate speaks on The Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Corrales Historical Society. Historic San Ysidro Church, 966 Old Church Rd. Corraleshistory.org.

FEBRUARY 17, Observance of Presidents Day – Federal Holiday and APS Schools closed.

FEBRUARY 18, 10 am, free. Early Childhood bilingual story time. National Hispanic Cultural Center. 1701 4th SW. nhccnm.org.

FEBRUARY 19, 12 noon, virtual or in-person. Benjamin Franklin Documents in the Archives of Spain presented by noted scholar Dr. Tom Chavez. State Records Center, Pinon Room, 1205 Camino Carlos Rey in Santa Fe.  More info at NewMexicoHistory.org, Office of the State Historian.

FEBRUARY 20, 4:30-6:30 pm, free. “Ride in Style” – free bicycling helmets and safety info. All ages. South Valley Library, 3904 Isleta SW. 877-5170.

FEBRUARY 20, 5:30-7pm, free. Open house at the Refuge-meet staff and ask questions. Refreshments. Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, 7851 2nd St. SW, 248-6667.

FEBRUARY 20, 5-8pm, free. Third Thursday at the ABQ Museum. Focus on exhibit Broken Boxes and More. 6pm premier performance by Elisa Harkins in different indigenous languages incorporating dance & vocal. More information from Diana Delgado, 243-7255. Albuquerque Museum.

FEBRUARY 21/22, 8am-3pm, free. Come find treasures and support the ABQ Garden Center, 10120 Lomas NE in Los Altos Park. More info at 379-3660.

FEBRUARY 22, 10 am, free. Historian & author John Taylor speaks about NM’s Medal of Honor Recipients at the Wheels Museum. Contact 505-243-6269 or info@WheelsMuseum.com, leba4@aol.com, 1100 2ndSt. SW.

FEBRUARY 22, 8-11 am, free but register in advance. Morning Hike in the Bosque (moderate/strenuous for 2 hours) then go to Volcano Day Use area. Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors NW. CONTACT Nick Bachand, 768-4951 or nbachand@cabq.gov.

FEBRUARY 22, 2pm, free. “Women of the West-A Living History of the Pioneer Women of Torrance County” presented by Dixie Boyle and Donna Deiner. Manzano Mountain Art Council Speaker Series, 101 Broadway in Mountainair. More information at ManzanoMountainArtsCouncil.org.

FEBRUARY 22, 11am-12 noon, free. ABQ’s Iconic Main Library: A Stunning example of Regional Brutalism presented by award winning architects Edie Cherry and Erik Mease. Learn about the style of the downtown Main Library. 501 Copper NW.

FEBRUARY 22, 2-3 pm, free. Michael Anthony concert (celebrating 50th anniversary of Main Library). Anthony is a renowned guitarist and member of Wrecking Crew which played for Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand and others. 501 Copper NW

FEBRUARY 22, 10am-4 pm, free. 50th anniversary of the downtown Main Library, community resource fair, music, speakers, refreshments. Free two hour parking across the street at the COA garage.501 Copper NW. More information at 311.

FEBRUARY 22, FREE. Maxwell Museum Printmaking Family Day, Learn about printmaking around the world. MaxwellMuseum.unm.edu. 500 University Blvd. NE.

FEBRUARY 22, 2-3:30 pm, free. Civil War History of the East Mountains presented by author & historian John Taylor. Sponsored by the East Mountains Historical Society, Tijeras Village Hall, 12 Camino Municipal, Tijeras, NM.

FEBRUARY 22 OBSERVANCE OF PRES. GEORGE WASHINGTON BIRTHDAY, 1732-1799

FEBRUARY 22, 10am-3pm, admission fee.  Discover Steam Day (science, tech, engineering, art, math) at the Nuclear Museum. Many hands on activities. Nuclear Science Museum, Eubank SE. nuclearscience.org.

FEBRUARY 22, 11 AM, free. Santa Fe Public Library, 145 Washington Ave.  hosts Professor Sherri Burr,  “The Pre-Civil War: Complicated Lives of People of African Descent”. Join Professor Sherri Burr, the author of Complicated Lives: Free Blacks in Virginia, 1619-1865, for a discussion on how the arrival of Africans changed the Virginia colony and the country into a multi-racial community where legal rights were advanced and restricted. Sponsored by the NM Humanities Council.  Program web page.

FEBRUARY 22/23, 12 noon, fee. Cultural dances, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. indianpueblo.org.

FEBRUARY 23, either 9 am or 10:30 am hike, free but register for the specific hike. View the flora & fauna of the 167 acres Candelaria Nature Preserve. More info at cabq.gov/candelaria-nature-preserve.  2901 Candelaria NW.

FEBRUARY 23,  2 pm, free. Cylinder Jars, Cacao & Chaco Canyon. Presented by Prof. Patricia Crown. Her research sheds light on drinking and food preparation in the ancient world. Martha Liebert Library in Bernalillo, 145 Calle Malinche, 867-1440. Sponsored by the Friends of Coronado and Jemez Historic Sites.

FEBRUARY 25, 5:30 pm, $10. La Familia Vigil, the ritual and traditions of New Mexico Music. NM Museum of Art in Santa Fe. Sponsored by Rancho de las Golondrinas.

FEBRUARY 27, 6 pm, free. Noted historian and NM folklorist Nasario Garcia signs his book and speaks on Beyond My Adobe Schoolhouse: My life in Education (stories from a one room school to UNM to Highlands U and beyond). At Bookworks store, Bkwrks.com, 4022 Rio Grande Blvd. NW

FEBRUARY 28, 3-5 pm, free. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.  Celebrate the 120th birthday of Dr. Seuss by watching the only original live action film 1 ½ hours. Erna Fergusson Library, 3700 San Mateo NE, 888-8100.

FEBRUARY 28, 4-5:30 pm, free. Introduction to Public Lands, Come learn about the 23 million acres of public lands in NM. Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge,  7851 2nd St. SW, 248-6667. fws.gov.refuge.valle-de-oro.

MARCH 1, 2pm, free. Ghost Towns of New Mexico presented by John Mulhouse, author of Abandoned New Mexico. Manzano Mountain Art Council Speaker Series, 101 Broadway in Mountainair.

MARCH 1, 3-5 pm, free but register in advance. BOSQUE Bonanza Nature Stroll. Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors NW. CONTACT Nick Bachand, 768-4951 or nbachand@cabq.gov.


Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument near Mountainair.  Contact Natalia Sanchez Hernandez for more info. Call 505-847-2585, ext. 221.

NATIVE DANCERS AT INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER WINTER SCHEDULE: SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS, 12 NOON. HUNDREDS MORE EVENTS LISTED ON ABQTODO.COM

Randall Davey Audubon Center and sanctuary, 1800 Upper Canyon Rd. in Santa Fe. Tour the gardens and historic Randall Davey house. Fridays @ 2 pm are docent led house tours, $5. Saturdays @8:30 am are guided bird walk. More info at RandallDavey.audubon.org. Monday – Saturday, 8am-4pm.


The historic court case involving Isleta pueblo member Miguel Trujillo and voting rights for Native Americans. To request traveling exhibit contact tasneem.bsaies@dca.nm.gov. There is a six part podcast available at podcast.nmculture.org

INDIAN EDUCATION AT UNM, iaie.unm.edu. Watch several previously recorded programs about Native American education, the Dine language and more.

HISTORIC SANTA FE FOUNDATION (historicSantaFe.org) offers many free programs to watch: Ron Duncan Hart speaking on the Early Jews in NM; Rob Martinez – The Enduring Hispanic Music of NM.

The Wheels Museum, 1100 2nd St. SW. Monday -Thursday, 9 am-12 noon, Sat. 12 noon-2pm. Call first to confirm, 243-6269 or info@wheelsmuseum.org

MURALS OF ALBUQUERQUE (www.murosabq.com) This shows over 130 murals in the ABQ metro area. You click on each picture and it shows the mural, gives its title and address, describes the image, and the artists.

ONLINE TOUR OF THE 15 HISTORIC MURALS AT THE INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER The tour gives details  of the artist and the dance or ritual illustrated in the mural. https://indianpueblo.org/pueblos-pigments-and-prominence-the-murals-of-ipcc/

Cibola County History Museum, 525 West High St., Grants NM. Go to the museum’s Facebook page for more information.

NUCLEAR MUSEUM – The Museum has a huge collection of oral history interviews (also transcribed) called Voices of the Manhattan Project. There are some 600 interviews of individuals who were either at the Manhattan Project or a family member who worked there. The  interviews are organized into 39 categories such as: Internment of Japanese Americans, Life in the Secret cities,  Hispanic employees, Native American. https://www.nuclearmuseum.org/educate/atomic-heritage-foundation  https://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/


VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Historic Fairview Cemetery, 700 Yale SE. invites anyone to come and hoe tumbleweeds and goat heads. The cemetery is open dawn to dusk and accessible through the gates of Fairview Memorial Park. Wear hard soled shoes & bring your own tools. www.HistoricFairviewCemeteryABQ.org or Facebook.com/HistoricFairviewCemetery. “Where the Past meets the Present.


AMAZING HISTORY / CULTURE OPPORTUNITIES ONLINE

Many of the museums and cultural centers in the ABQ metro area have put programming on their websites, Facebook pages or YouTube links. This includes everything from:

  • concerts, history lectures, video tours of various museum collections,
  • photograph pod casts, curriculum and study guides for children, audio interviews,

All of this is free and even “low tech” individuals can navigate these websites. There are YouTube channels available at no cost to watch to all. You are urged to explore many websites but especially these:

  • CORONADO HISTORIC SITE – Watch numerous programs from the website of the Friends of Coronado Historic Site. Kuaua.org/presentations. All info on their website.
  • NEW MEXICO HISTORY IN TEN MINUTES (newmexicohistory.org) On the home page, go to the bottom and click on Video of the Month. The entire list of episodes will appear by clicking on the corner of the video. NM State Historian Rob Martinez is most engaging and informative and there are more than 40 Episodes. The episodes may be heard in chronological order or by topic which is introduced in the first minute or so of the episode.
  • CIVIC AUDITORIUM HISTORY VIDEO (1957-1986) www.modernabq.org. Go to the Resources Tab, then the drop down to the three Civic Auditorium videos. They tell the story of the structure: why it was built, how it was used and why it was ultimately demolished.
  • HOLOCAUST MUSEUM and GELLERT EDUCATION CENTER NM, 616 Central SW. Go to the website nmholocaustmuseum.org. Questions call 247-0606.
  • ALBUQUERQUE OASIS LIFELONG LEARNING PRESENTS VARIOUS NM TOPICS www.albuquerque.oasisnet.org  or 884-4529.

ALBUQUERQUE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ARCHIVED VIDEO PROGRAMS

The Albuquerque Historical Society provides videos of scheduled program presentations. The videos are linked from the appropriate AHS Program pages. Presentations captured on videos to date include: