HSNM Awards

Author, scholar, editor—Lansing Bloom must be regarded as a preeminent figure in the pantheon of New Mexico historians. A graduate of Auburn Theological Seminary, Bloom first became interested in Borderlands history during service as a Presbyterian missionary in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Subsequently, he came to New Mexico and accepted a position on the staff of the School of American Research and the Museum of New Mexico. His interests extended from the colonial era to New Mexico’s role in World War I.  uring the 1920s and 1930s, Bloom made several trips for research in Spain and Mexico, returning with invaluable photographic copies from the national archives. In 1926 he became the first editor of the New Mexico Historical Review and continued in that post until his death twenty years later. All those with an interest in history are deeply indebted to Lansing B. Bloom.

A distinguished churchman and explorer, Fray Francisco Atanasio Domínguez was born in Mexico City circa 1740. At the age of seventeen he joined the Franciscan Order. In 1775 his superiors sent him to New Mexico to make an official visitation of the missions in that remote province. A keen observer, Domínguez composed a report that is undoubtedly the most accurate source available for conditions in the northern frontier during the eighteenth century. Together with his colleague, Fray Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, and with New Mexican cartographer and distinguished soldier don Bernardo Miera y Pacheco, Domínguez also led an epic search for a passable route from New Mexico to the Franciscan missions in California. Although unsuccessful, their remarkable journey ranks as one of the great explorations in the southwest.

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1859, Twitchell came to New Mexico as an attorney for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. Subsequently, he became well known as an attorney, Republican politician, and Santa Fe booster. More importantly, Twitchell also won acclaim as an author and historian, producing the monumental five-volume work, The Leading Facts of New Mexico History, and the invaluable two-volume research source, Spanish Archives of New Mexico (series I and II). In 1916, he became president of the Historical Society of New Mexico.

Pablita Velarde, “Tse Tsan” (Golden Dawn) in the Tewa language of her Santa Clara Pueblo home, was an outstanding artist originally trained as a young student in Dorothy Dunn’s Studio Art School at the Santa Fe Indian School. She was also a wonderful storyteller as exhibited in her self-illustrated book, Old Father Storyteller, first published in 1960. Her paintings are held by many museums, with an outstanding collection at the Bandelier National Monument. She received many awards, including the Palmes Académiques excellence in art from the French government.

Fabiola Cabeza de Baca was legendary in New Mexico for the work she accomplished as an agricultural extension agent, teacher, and folklorist. During the Depression and into the 1950s, she roamed the mountains, valleys, and plains bringing information and instruction to the rural population. She focused on a wide range of topics, such as gardening, preserving foods, poultry and livestock raising, sewing, and other domestic endeavors. Fabiola collected stories and recipes and published Historic Cookery (1939), The Good Life (1949), and We Fed Them Cactus (1954). This award will recognize books or exhibits about domestic life, foodways (cookbooks), fabric arts (colcha embroidery, quilting), genealogy, and folklore that relates to the cultural and social life of New Mexico.