A new exhibit in the Center for Southwest Research, “Blacks in the Southwest,” will hold its formal opening Friday, April 8, in Zimmerman Library located on UNM's main campus. The exhibit is scheduled to be on display through June 25. A reception is scheduled in conjunction with the opening at 5:30 p.m. The lecture will follow at 6 p.m. The exhibit’s curator, Cortez Williams, will speak in the Willard Reading Room in the west wing of Zimmerman.
Photo: “People of Las Trampas,” by Patricia Ryan, is one of the paintings to be displayed in a new art exhibit in the Center for Southwest Research.
The exhibit contains 42 original artworks depicting African Americans in early New Mexico up to the beginning of the 20th century. It provides stories about Blacks who played instrumental roles from the time of the early explorers to contemporary society. From Sebastian Rodriguez, drummer for De Vargas, to Stagecoach Mary, the woman with the strongest right arm in the west, the exhibits provide interesting tales of adventure.
Williams is vice-president of Historical Research Patrons, Inc., a New Mexico non-profit foundation that researches and promotes the history of African Americans in the western territories.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627