Cleofas Martinez Jaramillo
By the early 20th century, Spanish traditions hundreds of years old began to fade in northern New Mexico. Newly arrived artists and people whose families had lived the traditions for generations made concerted efforts to preserve traditions. Cleofas Martinez Jaramillo...
Zuni Olla Maidens
Zuni Olla Maidens are one of the most renowned dance groups in New Mexico. The members, all women, dance with fragile water jars, or ollas, balanced on the top of their heads. These women play an important role in Zuni, acting as cultural ambassadors for the community...
Yetta Kohn
Foreign-born, Jewish, and a single mother, Yetta Kohn succeeded on the frontier at a time when life was perilous, becoming matriarch, rancher, and entrepreneur over the course of her lifetime and establishing a foundation for her family’s ongoing success and security....
Women of the Santa Fe Trail
When women began crossing the plains of the United States on the Santa Fe Trail to the newly acquired U. S. Territory of New Mexico, they brought new sensibilities and priorities. Through activities as wide ranging as raising families, teaching music and literature,...
Women of Camino Real
Starting in 1598, when Juan de Oñate led the first colony from the Zacatecas area of what is today Mexico, thousands of women traveled over the Camino Real in both directions. In any season, whether over the Jornada del Muerto (the longer river route), or through the...
Women of Cochiti
By the late twentieth century, Pueblo figurative sculpture began to be valued as art, partly due to the popularity of storytellers, seated human figures with mouths wide open to represent the tradition of oral storytelling. Storytellers are now widely collected,...
Three Fates
Three extraordinary women contributed to the unique artistic culture of Taos in the 20th Century. Sometimes called “The Three Fates,” they had a long, passionate, and often contentious relationship with each other. Mabel Dodge Luhan created a haven for artists,...
Mary Coon Walters
Originally from Michigan, Mary Coon was working for a prosecuting attorney in Escanaba in the upper peninsula of Michigan when the government offered free training for pilots. She joined the Women’s Auxiliary Service Pilots (WASPS) just before her 21st birthday and...