Doña Teresa de Aguilera y Roche

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

Doña Teresa de Aguilera y Roche was the aristocratic, educated, and outspoken wife of New Mexico governor don Bernardo López de Mendizábal. Both were accused as sorcerers and judaizers—Christians who practiced Jewish rituals—and brought before the Holy Office of the...

Katherine Stinson Otero, the “Flying Schoolgirl”

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

Katherine Stinson Otero was the fourth American woman to earn a pilot’s license and the first female skywriter. She overcame pioneering aviator Max Lillie’s reluctance to teach her to fly, and became the “Flying Schoolgirl,” nicknamed for her youthful looks, small...

Soledad Chávez de Chacón

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

In 1922, two years after women gained the right to vote, Soledad Chávez de Chacón was elected Secretary of State, the first Hispanic woman to hold statewide office in New Mexico and the country. She descended from a family of territorial governors and office holders,...

Myra Ellen Jenkins

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

Myra Ellen Jenkins was born on September 26, 1916, in Elizabeth, Colorado, to Lewis Harlan Jenkins and Minnie (Ackroyd) Jenkins. Growing up in the Black Forest region, southeast of Denver and northeast of Colorado Springs, she was part of a family of homesteaders. She...

Dorothy McKibbin, “Gatekeeper of Los Alamos”

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

Dorothy McKibbin was the first person to greet newly arriving scientists, workers, and their families on their way to “The Hill,” the top-secret headquarters for the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos. Hired by Robert Oppenheimer as a secretary in 1943, her office at 109...

Amelia Elizabeth White

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

Amelia Elizabeth White and her younger sister Martha arrived in Santa Fe in 1923, purchased land, and built a magnificent estate on Garcia Street, now home to the School for Advanced Research (SAR). El Delirio, or the Madness as it was called, quickly became a...

Cleofas Martínez Jaramillo

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

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 Martínez Jaramillo...

Virginia T. Romero

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

Virginia T. Romero was a prominent Taos potter who helped to keep micaceous pottery alive in her community. Micaceous pots are excellent for cooking and are renowned for their ability to retain heat. In recent years, collectors and museums have recognized these pots...

Virginia Duran

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

Three Picuris women, Maria Ramita Simbola Martinez, Cora Durand, and Virginia Duran, helped to preserve the micaceous pottery tradition that remains important in Picuris and other nearby pueblos today. Picuris is a Tiwa speaking Pueblo located fifty-seven miles north...

Three Fates

by MyProject ByFranziska | Feb 11, 2023

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,...