Clara Belle Drisdale Williams Clara Belle Drisdale Williams became the first African American to graduate from New Mexico State University in 1937. After a career of teaching others, she was honored with an honorary law degree from NMSU in 1980, along with an apology for how she was treated…
What is Juneteenth? Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. It was on June 19, 1865 that the Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were…
6 14 1873 by Suzanne Stamatov Arthur Seligman, born 14 June 1871, became governor of New Mexico in January 1931. He was the first native-born, non-Hispanic, governor of Jewish ancestry. After serving his first two-year term, he successfully regained the post for a second term beginning in January 1933….
These New Mexican heroes are listed in alphabetical order: LT. ALEXANDER BONNYMAN, JR. U.S. Marines, World War II, Oct. 28, 1946 Bonnyman enlisted with the Marines in New Mexico and became executive officer of the 2nd Battalion Shore Party, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division. During an assault on Japanese-held…
10 3 1934 Jerry Apodaca was born in Las Cruces, NM in 1934. He attended the University of New Mexico earning a Bachelor of Science degree. A veteran of the Marine Corps., Apodaca returned to Las Cruces and opened his own insurance business with his bride, Clara. They would…
6 28 1866 “Buffalo Soldiers” Act of Congress authorized the creation of six regiments of Black troops, two of cavalry and four of infantry. These troops went on to play a major role in the history of the West, as the "Buffalo Soldiers." In 1875-76, the 9th Cavalry Regiment…
By John P. Wilson One of the most desolate locations along the Butterfield Overland Mail’s early route lay at Crow Spring, in a salt pan known as Crow Flats, ninety-four miles by road east of El Paso, Texas. The station here, a mile south of the New Mexico…
Victory for Gallegos, 1853 On September 5, 1853, Padre José Manuel Gallegos, an Albuquerque priest, defeated Gov. William Carr Lane in a hotly contested congressional election. Padre Gallegos had been educated in Durango, Mexico, as many priests from New Mexico had. During the late Mexican period, Gallegos had become increasingly…
William G. Ritch served as interim governor of New Mexico under the administration of the Territorial Government of the United States in 1875. William G. Ritch; Interim governor of New Mexico;
5 9 1813 By Tom Todd William Frederick Milton Arny was born on May 9, 1813 in the District of Columbia. He was the son of Joseph Arny from Krummenau, St. Gallen, Switzerland and Elizabeth Hyde (Joseph's first wife) from England. He was well educated for the day, and…
