
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Laurie Mellas, 277-5915
March 21, 2006
UNM Regents Honor Former Gov. King with Reading Room
On the occasion of former Gov. Bruce King's 82 nd birthday, Thursday, April 6, the University of New Mexico will formally dedicate a room at the School of Law in his honor. The celebration will be held in the forum from 4-6 p.m.
Speakers include Gov. Bill Richardson and UNM alumnus Gary King. Tours of the room will be ongoing. Refreshments, including birthday cake, will be served.
The UNM Board of Regents recently voted to designate a 1,000 sq. ft. space in the law library the “Governor Bruce King Archives and Reading Room.” New Mexico legislators appropriated $274,000 in 2005 for construction and archival work. Another $40,000 in private donations was raised.
The room honors King's ranching roots and includes hand carved furniture and rare memorabilia from his political career. Personal papers and artifacts donated to UNM by the three-term New Mexico governor will be made available to researchers to keep King's contributions active.
The governor's collection of some 900,000 items, including 2,000 photographs, are being processed by UNM Political Archives. Once indexed, they will be accessible to the public by appointment. The collection will be securely stored in an environmentally controlled space, separate from the King room, which is to be used for memorabilia display, special lectures and meetings.
“The Kings have been very active in the development of the space. It is an honor to have Gov. King's collection and to be able to make it available to researchers,” said Carol Parker, UNM law library director.
The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.
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