NMGS History
Volunteers are the energy of our Society!

Growth:
2008 is the 48th year of the New Mexico Genealogical Society, with steady increase in membership after we were "discovered" at our 40th anniversary, and our publications by NMGS Press became known for their fine value. Members Robert E. Esterly and Karen Stein Daniel have produced comprehensive resource books titled "Genealogical Research in New Mexico" and Patricia Black Esterly launched our web site in 1998, followed very quickly with the online project, "Locating Catholic Church Records in New Mexico." Last year we logged the highest paid membership in all of its 48 years.

National History Day is a year-long education program that engages students in grades 6-12 in the process of discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Students produce dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries and research papers based on research related to an annual theme. These projects are then evaluated at local, state, and national competitions. Former Genealogist editor Karen Daniel has led NMGS to participate in this worthy student project and to contribute cash prizes in two categories.

New Mexico History Day, part of National History Day, is sponsored by the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities and the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

2005 -- "Communication in History: the Key to Understanding,"
NMGS presented $100 prizes on April 29 2005 for History Day papers to the writers below. The Society chose papers that showed "best use of primary sources in a genealogical, family history, or community history topic."

Senior level - Lauryl DeJong, Rio Rancho High School. "V-Mail" (Victory Mail).
Junior level - Erin Thompson, Heights Middle School, Farmington. "Letters From Home."

2006 -- "Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events."
NMGS presented $100 prizes on April 28 2006 for History Day papers to the writers below. There were no exhibits this year that dealt specifically within the topic in a genealogical or family history way.  The winners, therefore, were based on what would fall into broadly-defined community history topics. The winners were:

Senior Individual - Rosa Reyes, West Mesa High School, Albuquerque. Rosa's exhibit was entitled "The Tuskegee Airmen:  Between Two Wars."  Rosa's excellent exhibit used primary source materials including photos, Supreme Court cases, a diary kept while serving in Europe, and newspapers.

Junior Individual - Micah Montiel, Dugan Tarango Middle School, Lordsburg. Micah's exhibit was entitled 'Resistance From Within:  The White Rose.'  Micah's excellent exhibit used primary source materials including photos, copies of German leaflets published at the time and which had also been translated, and copies of translated letters which the imprisoned students sent to their parents. For those who aren't familiar with the White Rose episode in history, it involved a group of college students who took a stand against the moral injustices of Nazi Germany and were executed. 

"As always, this day was a personally rewarding experience for me as both judge and spectator. NMGS's participation to encourage not only family history research, but scholarly historical research, can only help to create a positive experience for New Mexico students.  I hope the board sees fit to continue our participation in this way on a yearly basis.  I also have noticed over the last three years that more and more groups are coming onboard to offer prizes.  This year's prizes came also from the American Civil Liberties Union of NM, the Roger Baldwin Award for best projects on Civil Rights, The Albuquerque Association for Gifted and Talented Students, the Arab World and Islamic Resources, the Charles Reed Center of Western Studies at BYU, the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, the Historical Society of NM, the NM Steam Locomotive and Railroad Histocial Society, the Office of the State Historian, and the Southwest Oral History Association.  We are, indeed, in good company." 
           Karen S. Daniel

For more information on National History Day, see http://www.nationalhistoryday.org

Ron Hill, NMGS President 1978 and 1979, has been elected Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists. He became a Certified Genealogist (CG) in December 1997 and was elected Trustee of the Board for Certification (BCG) in 2001 for a three year term. He is presently a member of the Editorial Board for the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. A retired physicist of Sandia National Laboratories, he is enjoying "puzzling out the mysteries of his own heritage." [Sandia Lab News, January 5, 2007]

Mr. Hill published a number of articles in The Genealogist (published by the American Society of Genealogists), in The American Genealogist (TAG), and in the National Genealogical Genealogical Society Quarterly.

His book The Tumultous Achym/Fulford Relationship, published in 2003, was granted the Jacobus Award by the AmericanSociety of Genealogists as a model family history.

The many records of the Santa Fe Archdiocese continue to be systematically transcribed, typed, and published. Evelyn, a retired public school teacher, painstakingly double checks each entry at every stage before the book is released. She double-checks the entries from microfilm and, whenever necessary, from the original documents.

The NMGS started publishing with 225 steno-notebooks of hand-copied AASF record transcriptions. Working steadily , we are down to 87 steno books and have published over 30 books of AASF birth and marriage church records, in addition to books of censuses and cemetery records.