Historians Amber Lane and Portia Vescio walked visitors through a photographic memory lane of some of the most impactful moments in the University of New Mexico’s history, on Sept. 30, as an excerpt from their book, “University of New Mexico.” The book is a collection of photographs capturing some of the University’s greatest accomplishments and historic events.
Lane and Vescio’s book was released in August, and was created using UNM’s Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections. It highlights the influence of Pueblo architecture, the diverse communities within UNM and the historical pathways the University paved.
The authors said that UNM is historically rich due to its diverse cultures and programs, pueblo and southwestern architecture, establishment before statehood and perhaps most impactfully, the major hand that the University’s research played in the 1900s medical field.
The architectural style of the University began to form during the early 1900s, when UNM President William George Tight decided to reflect Pueblo Revival architecture on campus, Lane said. He visited various pueblos and photographed details to show the builders of UNM.
Lane said that the expansion of North Campus, and specifically research in health sciences, helped legitimize the University as a higher learning institution.
“The sanatorium was playing a big part in New Mexico to begin with, so there’s always been this medical side to the university, like biology and just the health sciences. So, establishing the medical sciences was an important push for the University to become recognized,” Lane said.
During the 19th and 20th century, many people moved to New Mexico because of its medical care, Lane said.
According to a Health Sciences Library blog entailing tuberculosis treatments during the 18th and 19th century, New Mexico’s elevation, high levels of sunshine and clean, dry air, were said to be helpful in combating the disease.
Lane also credited UNM’s access to rural programs to making the University stand out. She said the book highlights important events taking place throughout the history of UNM since the time New Mexico received its statehood and became recognized as a legitimate university.
“It shows these major events that happened within New Mexico’s history. For example, we pushed for statehood in providing more funding for the University. College accreditation in 1922 provided more graduate programs with statehood,” Lane said.
UNM has been credited under the Higher Learning Center since 1922, including all programs and campuses.
“The University started to focus on Hispanic and Latin American history and cultures here in the early 1900s,” Lane said. “This commitment to these programs evolved into some of the first Chicano Studies, African Studies and even American Studies, in the country.”
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The authors mentioned that Army training corps were also a recurring part of UNM’s history. The Student Army Training Corp was established in 1917 to prepare for World War I. UNM also hosted the 1963 Peace Corps Outward Bound training, known as The Columbia VIII.
In the collection shown were famous and significantly historic photographs of UNM programs and athletics including the first women’s basketball team, the marching band, the swim team and famous UNM alumni athletes.
Historic, honorable mentions, such as activist and actress Jane Fonda visiting campus to advocate for non-violent protests during the Vietnam War, were also included in the presentation. Also found in the collections are photographs of important figures of UNM alumni including pioneer of New Mexico modern dance Elizabeth Waters and former UNM presidents James Zimmerman and Tom Popejoy.
Vescio said that the two found so many pieces of material, making it difficult to narrow down the collection of photographs they had chosen.
“Yes, we do need to include things like some of the sports, we do need to include the military. We need to make sure that we hit the highlights, but also want to tell new stories, so finding that balance between things was really one of the challenges for us when we put the book together,” Vescio said.
Lane said she enjoys researching history and wants to pursue more book ideas about historic topics. She hopes readers learn something interesting about the University and the people within it.
“Its really just for anyone who went here, worked here, or just the community that appreciates local history,” Lane said.
Lexis Lovato is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @lovatolexis
