HSNM Awards

The Historical Society of New Mexico annually recognizes outstanding work by students, professional and avocational historians, and organizations through its Awards Program. Nominations for book and service awards are now open for the 2023 HSNM Awards. The submission deadline for nominations is January 15, 2024.

 the 2022 Historical Society of New Mexico Awards

See the winners of the 2022 Historical Society of New Mexico Awards.

See the full list of Historical Society of New Mexico Award winners. 

 

Description and Criteria of HSNM Awards

Book Awards

These awards are intended for a living author or authors whose book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of New Mexico or Southwest borderlands history. Only books published in the prior calendar year will be eligible for the current award cycle.

See Description of Book Award Categories, below.

To nominate a book, please submit to the Awards Chair:

  1. Three (3) copies of the publication.
  2. A completed nomination form.
  3. A brief description of why this publication is worthy of an award.

If you are not certain of the most appropriate category, the awards committee will make the decision based on the criteria available.

Description of Book Award Categories

The Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá Award—for an outstanding publication in New Mexico or Southwest borderlands history

A poet and soldier, Captain Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá (born ca. 1668) arrived in New Mexico as a member of the expedition of Don Juan de Oñate in 1598. Although a “criollo” by birth, being a native of the city of Puebla de Los Ángeles in New Spain, he went to Spain to study at the famed University of Salamanca before entering military service. His epic poem telling of the travails of the Oñate expedition, La Historia de Nueva España, has been described as the first history published that portrays a part of the future American nation.

The Lansing B. Bloom Award—for an outstanding publication in New Mexico or Southwest borderlands history by an institution affiliated with the Historical Society of New Mexico

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.

The Fray Francisco Atanasio Domínguez Award—for an outstanding publication or significant contribution to historic survey and research in New Mexico or Southwest borderlands history

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.

The Ralph Emerson Twitchell Award—for an outstanding publication or significant contribution by individuals or organizations to the creative arts, as related to New Mexico history

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.

The Pablita Velarde Award—for an outstanding children’s publication related to New Mexico or Southwest borderlands history

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 Award—for an outstanding publication or exhibit relating to domestic life in New Mexico

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.

Service Awards

Service Awards recognize outstanding achievements and/or noteworthy service by individuals, organizations, institutions, or communities in service of New Mexico and Southwest Borderlands history and culture. These may include projects, innovative approaches to disseminating historical information, educational programs and curricula, historic preservation, interpretive programming, and outstanding collaborations.

See Description of Service Award Categories, below.

To nominate an individual or an organization in one of the categories listed below, please submit the following to the Awards Chair:

  1. A completed nomination form.
  2. A letter describing that person or group, the service performed, and why that individual or group is worthy of recognition.
The Edgar Lee Hewett Award—for outstanding service to the people of New Mexico, as related to New Mexico History

Edgar Lee Hewett began his professional life as an educator, and in 1898 he was appointed president of New Mexico Normal University (Highlands.) Soon after, archaeology became his principal interest, bringing him worldwide recognition for his investigations on the Pajarito Plateau and elsewhere. Hewett is remembered as a founder of both the Museum of New Mexico and what became the School of American Research. Largely as a result of his efforts, federal officials established Bandelier National Monument in 1916.

The L. Bradford Prince Award—for significant work in the field of historic preservation in New Mexico

Attorney, author, and politician, L. Bradford Prince was one of New Mexico’s preeminent citizens of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A New Yorker, he first came to the territory in 1879 to serve a chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. An ardent student of history, Prince was elected president of the Historical Society of New Mexico in 1883, and he remained active in the organization for many years. In 1889 President Benjamin Harrison
appointed Prince governor of New Mexico. During his four-year term, Prince resided in the Palace of the Governor’s on the Santa Fe Plaza, and he subsequently initiated efforts for its preservation. He also worked tirelessly for the preservation of Spanish colonial mission churches and wrote concerning their history.

The Paul A. F. Walter Award—for outstanding service to the Historical Society of New Mexico

A true Renaissance man, Paul F. Walter served at various times as president of the First National Bank of Santa Fe, editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican, and executive secretary of the School of American Archaeology. For fifty years he was a devoted member of the Historical Society of New Mexico and was elected president in 1926. In that position, he assisted Lansing B. Bloom during publication of the New Mexico Historical Review (NMHR). Until a short time before his death in 1996, Walter continued to be co-editor for the NMHR and an enthusiastic supporter of the Historical Society of New Mexico.

The Dorothy Woodward Award—for advancement of education in New Mexico history

A dedicated educator throughout a long and distinguished career, Dorothy Woodward earned her Ph.D. at Yale University in 1935. By that time she had already taught history in the Denver Public Schools for several years. Soon after leaving New Haven, Connecticut, she joined the faculty of the University of New Mexico, where she remained a fixture in the history department for the next twenty years. A contemporary of France V. Scholes, Woodward was sometimes
called “La Suprema” by her students, who included Myra Ellen Jenkins, Robert W. Delaney and other well-known historians.

Description of Service Awards

Review Criteria for All Awards

Each eligible nomination, whether for book or service award, is carefully read by reviewers selected for their expertise and knowledge of New Mexico history. Those reviewing books are required to read at least two in the same category and submit written evaluations to the Awards Committee, which uses the following criteria to make its final assessment:
 

  • Overall contribution to New Mexico or Southwest Borderlands history. Is the book shedding new light on a topic or simply rehashing old information?
  • Excellence of writing and clarity of expression
  • Design and layout, including illustrations as appropriate
  • Intended audience and its success in reaching that audience
  • Worthiness for the award under consideration
  •  Strengths and weaknesses, including the use of primary and secondary sources as appropriate
  • Qualifications of author
  • Reviewers’ final assessment and ranking of the book

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