Bruce Gjeltema will speak on “Senator Dennis Chavez, Jacob C. Morgan and the Sabotage of John Collier’s Indian New Deal” on Friday, Nov. 13 at 12 p.m. in Room B48 of Zimmerman Library. The brown bag lecture will delve into the relationship between New Mexico Senator Dennis Chavez and Navajo leader Jacob C. Morgan and their efforts to undermine the Bureau of Indian Affairs Commissioner John Collier’s Indian New Deal program among the Navajos.
Gjeltema examines the extensive correspondence between the leaders, and demonstrates that between 1936 and 1940 the two conspired to halt Navajo endorsement of the Indian Reorganization Act, blocked passage of the New Mexico Boundary Bill championed by Collier, put pressure on congressional leaders to have Collier removed from office and challenged his livestock reduction program.
Gjeltema is a research fellow for the Office of the State Historian funded through the Commission of Public Records. The lecture is sponsored by the Center for Southwest Research, the Commission of Public Records and the Office of the State Historian. Questions should be directed to Dennis Trujillo at (505) 476-7998 or dennis.trujillo@state.nm.us
The lecture is free and the public is welcome.