The Border Archives Bazaar is a free, fun and educational event that brings visitors face to face with fascinating historical materials from the border region. The event will be held Saturday, October 22, 10am-4pm at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. Organized by the Border Regional Archives Group (BRAG), the Bazaar features rare documents, photographs, maps, publications, and more, that highlight the unique history and cultural heritage of our region. The theme of the bazaar, Puentes al Pasado, Bridges to the Past, highlights the role archives play as bridges from the present to the past.
The event brings together resources from more than a dozen libraries, archives, and museums of the southern New Mexico, west Texas, and the borderlands. Participating institutions include: NMSU Library Archives and Special Collections, El Paso Public Library Border Heritage Center, El Paso County Historical Society, New Mexico Museum of Space History, Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office, UTEP Centennial Museum, UTEP Library C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections, Chamizal National Memorial, Sul Ross State University Archives of the Big Bend, and Eastern New Mexico University Special Collections, among others. The Bazaar highlights the role that archives play in preserving and promoting our cultural heritage. Archivists, librarians, and museum curators will be on hand to discuss and answer questions about archives, regional history, and preservation of original documents.
The Border Archives Bazaar also includes presentations and films about regional history by noted borderlands historians. All presentations, listed below, will take place in the museum's auditorium.
10:15 - 11:00 am
Sue Taylor, “Films from the Collections of the New Mexico Museum of Space History”
“Apollo 11 - Moon Landing: A Special Report” NASA, 1969 (14:41) – A short description of the Apollo Program, background of the 3 Astronauts, specifics of the Saturn V rocket and what is expected to happen with the Moon landing.
“DASA Project 9.5: Development of a Family of High-Altitude Sounding Rocket Systems” White Sands Missile Range, early 1960’s (12:58) – descriptions of five sounding rockets including the Nike Ajax and Honest John Nike. Includes why each rocket had different thrusts depending on the weight of the payloads.
Sue Taylor has been working in museums and their archives for over 40 years. She holds a Master’s degree in Museum Education from the College of William and Mary, and is currently the Chief Curator for the New Mexico Museum of Space History. Her experiences in the field have covered topics as diverse as the Environment, Native American History and Culture, Nuclear Science and Space Technology and History. George and Martha Washington actually stayed in one of the Historic Houses she curated. Digging new facts out of archives has always been a fascinating part of the job.
11:10 - 11:40 am
Jim Eckles, “Researching the White Sands Missile Range’s Surprising History”
A look at some of the sources for information about White Sands Missile Range. Some of it priceless, some with unexpected errors.
Jim Eckles is a Nebraskan who found his way into the Public Affairs Office at White Sands Missile Range in 1977. During his 30 years there he got a rare look under the covers of the largest military installation in America. When he retired, he wrote about the missile range’s history in “Pocketful of Rockets: History and Stories Behind White Sands Missile Range.” He tells stories about V-2 rockets gone astray, the search for 100 tons of gold at Victorio Peak, how the first atomic bomb at Trinity Site instantly changed the world, about the cougars and bighorn sheep roaming the Range, the 1880 Apache/cavalry battlefield, and how space aliens figure into it all.
11:50 am - 12:20 pm
Bob Chessey, “Enrique Fernandez: Early Juarez Crime Boss (The Al Capone of Mexico)”
This presentation will describe Enrique Fernandez, Juarez gangster boss during the 1920’s and the early 1930’s, and his rise to power. Fernandez’ criminal enterprises included liquor running, narcotic trafficking, counterfeiting American currency, and gambling. The presentation documents the gangster’s connection to the infamous narcotic trafficker Ignacia “La Nacha” Jasso la Viuda de González; what precipitated his downfall; resultant assassination in broad daylight on a busy street in Mexico City; and his large funeral in Juarez.
Bob Chessey is a retired Texas state employee. He grew up in El Paso but moved to Austin for 24 years after graduating from UTEP with a degree in English. In 2003 began researching early narcotic trafficking in the El Paso/Juarez region, and returned to West Texas in 2006. Bob has written numerous articles on the illicit drug trade in El Paso and Juarez, which have been published in the El Paso County Historical Society’s Password and online at the El Paso Newspaper Tree, Frontera Norte-Sur, Counterpunch, and El Chuqueño.
12:30 - 1:10 pm
Danielle Brissette, “Films from the Collections of the Magoffin Home State Historic Site”
Seven World War II-era films that were part of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department files for the Magoffin Home in El Paso were recently digitized. They capture the historic site’s courtyard and grounds, visitors to the home, and parades held nearby. Come help us crowdsource information about these films during this interactive session.
Danielle Brissette is the Site Manager for the Magoffin Home State Historic Site. She holds an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester and a BA from Baylor University.
1:20 - 1:50 pm
Jamie Bronstein, “Big Trouble in Little Texas: The Chicano Movement in Southern New Mexico”
Southern New Mexicans, especially college students at WNMU, NMSU, and ENMU participated in the Chicano civil rights movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. In Southeastern New Mexico in particular, racism and inequality baked into "Little Texas" galvanized participation in the movement.
Dr. Jamie Bronstein is a history professor at New Mexico State University, where she has taught since 1996. Her sixth book, The Happiness of the British Working Class, will be published by Stanford University Press in December 2022. She is currently researching the Territorial Insane Asylum of New Mexico, 1893-1930.
2:00 - 3:00 pm
Julia Smith, “From Las Cruces to Hollywood: Orville Wanzer's Celluloid Archive”
Dr. Julia Smith’s talk covers the filmmaker and professor Orville “Buddy” Wanzer’s filmography and influence from his groundbreaking first film, “The Devil’s Mistress” to his later, more personal art film “George Andrews,” to his collection of abstract nature montage films made in the Gila. She will discuss Wanzer’s work to build a film culture at NMSU and Las Cruces, from his film school in the journalism department, to his Campus Film Society, and film studies courses in English. The presentation will include images from Wanzer’s films as well as that of his students, that Dr. Smith has uncovered at the Rio Grande Historical Collections at NMSU and digitized at the Institute of Historical Survey in Mesilla Park. Finally, she will discuss some of the central research questions guiding her archival discoveries.
Dr. Smith is a Visiting Assistant professor in English and Gender Studies at NMSU. She holds a PhD in Critical Theory and Cultural Studies with a specialization in film and gender studies. Her research in the Wanzer archives has led to work-in-progress scholarly articles and a documentary film, “Birth of the Acid Western.”
3:10 - 3:40 pm
Rick Hendricks, “The French Catholic Influence in the Mesilla and El Paso Areas”
Dr. Rick Hendricks is the New Mexico state records administrator. He was the state historian for nine years before accepting his present position. He received his BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977. He attended the Universdad de Sevilla in Spain. He received his PhD in Ibero American Studies from the University of New Mexico in 1985. He is a former editor of the Vargas Project at the University of New Mexico. After the conclusion of the Vargas Project, he worked at New Mexico State University, most notably on the Durango Microfilming Project in the Archives and Special Collections Department. At NMSU Rick also taught courses in colonial Latin America and Mexican history. He has written extensively on the history of the American Southwest and Mexico. Rick works in Santa Fe but calls Las Cruces home.
For more information, please contact: Abbie Weiser, Special Collections, University of Texas at El Paso Library, ahweiser@utep.edu, 915-747-6839, or Dennis Daily, Archives and Special Collections, New Mexico State University Library, ddaily@nmsu.edu, 575-646-4756.
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