Throughout February, as we celebrate Black History Month, let’s take a journey through the incredible Black history of Southern New Mexico. You might be surprised at the rich stories and achievements that have been part of our state for years. In this blog, we will embark on a journey of the stories of Black History in New Mexico.
Since the late 18th century, New Mexico has been home to a thriving African American community, from the Buffalo Soldiers to the Blackdom homesteaders, preachers, and entrepreneurs alike.
The mission of the African American Museum and Cultural Center of New Mexico is to increase awareness and understanding of the contributions of people of African Descent with emphasis on New Mexico and the Southwest.
- Workshops and educational programming around African American History and Culture
- Outreach to communities around the state to assist the museum in the collection and archiving of African American History in the State of New Mexico
- Artistic exhibits incorporating African American artists and musicians
The African American Museum and Cultural Center of New Mexico was formed on August 26th, 2002.
Buffalo Soldiers: A contingent of black men in the Union Army during the Civil War, who became the 9th and 10th cavalries in the region. Their mandate was to provide protection from marauding Indians and Mexican revolutionaries, and they helped build this country’s sprawling railway system through the state.
Read also: Experience Fad's Fine African Cuisine
Early Pioneers and Communities
The Black community in New Mexico has a compelling legacy that dates back more than 500 years, starting with Estevanico, the Spanish Moor from North Africa, who came seeking gold.
Estevanico was the first known black person to set foot in the Southwest in 1527. Estevanico traveled as the main guide to Marco de Nizo, in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola. The Zuni Indians of New Mexico killed Estevanico in 1539.
During the days of cattle trails crisscrossing the heart of the state, the legacy of the Black Cowboy was born. Archival photographs and historical narratives chronical the history of Black Cowboys in the west, giving us insight into the reality of the racial landscape of the Cowboys of the time, a history not typically depicted by standard Hollywood films.
You’d have to backtrack more than a century to find the trails the Buffalo Soldiers blazed while protecting our country on the front lines of the Southwest following the Civil War. A total of 12,500 black men-and at least one woman-were enlisted in the Army’s 9th and 10th cavalry, as well as the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st, which protected settlements and establish towns throughout the territory.
The troops got their name from the Plains Indians in part because of their wooly hair, and in part because of their fearless might, which reminded the Indians of the buffalo’s strength.
Read also: The Story Behind Cachapas
Blackdom, a symbol of courage and unity, was founded by Francis Marion Boyer first near Roswell, New Mexico then later moved to Vado, NM. It represented a new beginning for Black Americans who were determined to build a life away from the racial injustices of the Jim Crow laws in the South. As the community grew, facing challenges like droughts and economic hardships, its members showcased remarkable perseverance. Their strength was further exemplified in the 1920s when they moved to Vado, to be near the water supply of the Rio Grande, seeking better resources for their crops. This move led to the establishment of the Dunbar School, a vital educational institution during segregation. Blackdom’s story is not just about struggle, but about the power of community, hope, and the enduring legacy of its founders and residents.
Blackdom: A Deeper Dive
Blackdom was initially imagined as both a refuge from the hostilities of Jim Crow society and as a for-profit enterprise. Entanglement in land-fraud scandals hindered the town’s early development, but Blackdom eventually grew to nearly three hundred residents, with its own school, Baptist church, post office, and general store.
Blackdom settlers practiced a variety of agricultural methods, including dry farming and irrigation from shallow wells, but drought eventually doomed this unique community.
During Blackdom’s boomtimes, in December 1919, Blackdom Oil Company shifted town business from a regenerative agricultural community to a more extractive model.
Reoriented to Mexico’s “northern frontier,” one observes Black ministers, Black military personnel, and Black freemasons who colonized as part of the transmogrification of Indigenous spaces into the American West.
Read also: Techniques of African Jewellery
Many believed that Blackdom was simply abandoned. However, new evidence shows that the scheme to build generational wealth continued to exist throughout the twentieth century in other forms.
Blackdom’s history offers the opportunity to construct a new narrative that allows for the further expansion in the study of Black People of the West with the use of a new conceptual framework.
Dr. Nelson has uncovered new primary source materials that suggest for Blackdom a newly discovered third decade.
Nelson’s concept of the Afro-Frontier evokes a “Turnerian West,” but it is also fruitfully understood as a Weberian “Borderland.” Its history highlights a brief period and space that nurtured Black cowboy culture.
Blackdom New Mexico Part 1 WIML
Education and Leadership
If you’ve heard about Clara Belle Williams then you know what an incredible impact she’s made! She was the first black woman to graduate from New Mexico State University (NMSU). Clara Belle Williams was a special teacher and so much more in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She taught many kids at Lincoln High School and Booker T. Washington School. Williams was the first Black woman to graduate from NMSU in 1937, then called New Mexico College of Agriculture & Mechanical Arts.
Clara Belle Drisdale Williams: The first African American to graduate from New Mexico State University in 1937. She was later honored with an honorary law degree from NMSU in 1980, along with an apology for how she was treated as a student. Three of her grandsons became physicians.
After a career of teaching others, she was honored with an honorary law degree from NMSU in 1980, along with an apology for how she was treated as a student.
Clarence Fielder was a hero in the Army during the Korean War in the 1950s. After that, he became a teacher in Las Cruces and taught from 1970 to 2010. Fielder taught for 32 years for Las Cruces Public Schools and at New Mexico State University for 100 semesters. He hardly ever missed a day of teaching and taught thousands of students! He played such an important role in living and recording the Black History of Las Cruces, NM. He lived in the Mesquite Historic District and grew up in the heart of Las Cruces. His daughters talked about always feeling part of the community despite having to attend segregated schools. His legacy also is in how deeply he loved and supported his community.
These leaders of Las Cruces are noted for their efforts in enriching their community.
African-Americans in New Mexico are deeply driven by a sense of purpose. Many have stepped up to lead at the local and state levels, from long-time public servant James Lewis, the former state treasurer; to elected officials such as Sheryl Williams Stapleton and Jane Powdrell-Culbert.
Community and Culture
Discover the vibrant African American community of Albuquerque, a tapestry of art, entrepreneurship, and resilience woven into the city's rich history.
Black workers could only rise so far. African American men were generally relegated to jobs as porters, janitors and cooks; women were limited to jobs as maids, caretakers, domestic cooks and caterers.
The Powdrell name is legend in New Mexico: Many a delicious meal has been enjoyed at Mr. Powdrell’s Barbecue House locations in Albuquerque or at events they cater. Founded by Pete and Catherine Powdrell in the ‘40s and ‘50s, the business has been handed down and carried on through their 11 children.
The city’s beauty and barber shops, along with other African-American businesses, create much-needed products and services, while serving as centers of communication for locals.
Some of the roots of his success were sown in Albuquerque, where his family moved from Detroit for the health of his mother and brother, who both had tuberculosis.
While the Bunche family attended Mount Olive, it was Grant Chapel African Methodist Episcopal that holds the honor of being Albuquerque’s first black church; it was founded in 1883 as a “house of worship and prayer for all nations of people.” Grant Chapel hosts an annual community-wide Martin Luther King Jr.
The oldest African American church in Albuquerque, Grant Chapel AME, was founded in 1882. Its first location was a rented house located at 201 1st St SW.
In 1903, Mrs. Watson raised $135 to purchase a property at 510 Lead Ave SW and the congregation became known as Mount Olive Baptist Church. Services were held in a house on the property until the church was completed in 1909.
Civil Rights and Integration
The Dona Ana County branch of the NAACP formed in the 1930s and was credited, in part, with the peaceful integration of Las Cruces schools in 1957.
The 1964 Accommodations Act brought integration to all of New Mexico.
Black History Month, which began as ‘Negro History Week’ in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson, is a month-long celebration that ignites inspiration every February. It started as a week to honor the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, aiming to shine a light on the incredible contributions of African Americans often left out of history books.
President Gerald Ford, in 1976, urged the nation to celebrate the often overlooked achievements of Black Americans.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1527 | Estevanico, the first known black person, arrives in the Southwest. |
| 1860s | African Americans become a significant presence in New Mexico. |
| 1882 | Grant Chapel AME, the oldest African American church in Albuquerque, is founded. |
| 1937 | Clara Belle Williams becomes the first Black woman to graduate from NMSU. |
| 1964 | The Accommodations Act brings integration to all of New Mexico. |
| 2002 | The African American Museum and Cultural Center of New Mexico is formed. |
