Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at 12:00 noon, free!

Heather McClure, from the Chavez Library at the New Mexico History Museum, will be giving a Brown Bag presentation on the Edgar Lee Hewett collection at the New Mexico History Museum. In addition to Edgar Hewett's collection of written material and photographs, Heather will explore his early archaeology work in New Mexico and Guatemala and the various people he included in his research in the Southwest and Central America.

The New Mexico History Museum is digitizing and making publicly available the manuscript and photograph collections of Edgar L. Hewett (1865-1946) thanks to a major grant from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission.

An inescapable presence in early 20th century Southwestern cultural life, Hewett earned his nickname of “El Toro”. Among his many accomplishments, Hewett was at the forefront of modern Southwestern archaeology. He trained a new generation of archaeologists, invited women into the field, and worked tirelessly for the United States Antiquities Act (1906). He led the Museum of New Mexico and the School of American Archaeology (today known as the School for Advanced Research) and preserved New Mexican cultural patrimony. He used his political skills and stubbornness to centralize cultural preservation and promote and establish New Mexico as a hub for "The Groundwork of American Archeology”, one of Hewett’s first publications.

By making Hewett's papers widely available, researchers can grapple with the history of Southwestern archaeology and the methods and systems Hewett built as he elevated American archaeology on the world stage. These collections will be publicly accessible via a digital platform. The photographic materials will be available for the first time as an organized research collection.

This talk will be held in the OAS library at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology. Talks are informal and admission is free. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. This talk begins Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at noon. Look for special announcements regarding this and other talks on the OAS Facebook page or on the New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies website.

The Center for New Mexico Archaeology (7 Old Cochiti Road) is located off of Caja del Rio Road, across from Challenge New Mexico on the way to the Santa Fe Municipal Golf Course. Take 599 to South Meadows Road, continue through the traffic circle west along the Frontage Road to Caja del Rio Road. CNMA is on the left-hand side of the road and is the large building with white sail-like skylights on the roof.