Brown Bag Lectures at the Chávez History Library

The Fray Angélico Chávez History Library presents a monthly lecture series called BRAINPOWER & BROWNBAGS. The lectures cover many aspects of New Mexico and Southwest history and culture. The lectures are free to the public and held in the Meem Community Room at 120 Washington Ave. (Enter through the New Mexico History Museum's Washington Ave). For current information, please see below.

For past lectures available for download, please scroll down.

Past Lectures

Click on the icon or the title and listen to the recording. If you would like to download the recording, please right click and select "Save Target As" (or "Save Link As").

Nathan Augustus Monroe Dudley, 1825-1910: Rogue, Hero or Both? [Lincoln County War]
E. Donald Kaye, Historian, Santa Fe
28 July 2008.

New Light on Mesa Verde Archaeology
David Noble, Historian, Santa Fe
6 August 2008

How to Misread a Western Poem [Bret Harte, Chinese immigration]
Gary Scharnhorst, Professor of English, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
15 September 2008

The Railroad's Impact on Land and Water Use in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, 1880-1930
Tessa Davidson, Davidson Law Firm, Corrales
15 October 2008

Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War as Literature
Gale Coope, Writer, Sandia Park
22 January 2009
We experienced audio difficulties; here is the copyrighted transcript.

The Law and Billy the Kid
Johnny Boggs, Writer, Santa Fe
11 February 2009

The Native American Curio Trade: Archival Sources, Ephemera, and Oral History
Jonathan Batkin, Director Wheelright Museum, Santa Fe
18 March 2009.

Fred Harvey Houses of the Southwest
Richard Melzer, Professor of History, University of New Mexico, Valencia
21 April 2009.

Pueblo Indian Water Rights in New Mexico in the Spanish and Mexican Periods
Stan Hordes, Historian, Albuquerque
13 May 2009.

The Sister Danger: How the Dixon, New Mexico, Case Shaped American Conversations About church-State Separation
Katie Holscher, Assistant Professor, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Villanova University, Philadelphia, PA
09 June 2009.

Cherokee Phoenix: Advent of a Newspaper
Frank Brannon, SpeakEasy Press, Asheville, N.C.
20 July 2009.
We apologize for the background noise in the podcast.

New Mexico Volunteers and Militia During the Civil War
Jerry Thompson, Regents Professor, Texas A and M International University, Laredo
05 August 2009.
We apologize for the background noise in the podcast.

Kingsborough, Catherwood, and Maudslay: Rare Illustraed Works on Ancient Mesoamerica in the Chavez History Library
Khristaan Villela, NMHM Resident Scholar, Santa Fe, N.M.
16 September 2009.

Colliding Cultures: Athapaskans, Utes, and Europeans enter the Pueblo World
Jason Shapiro, Anthropologist, Santa Fe, N.M.
14 October 2009.

Alexander von Humboldt and Zebulon Pike and the Mapping of Northern New Spain
Dennis Reinhartz, Professor Emeritus - History, University of Texas at Arlington
17 November 2009.

On the Trail of the Kid and Pat Garrett
Mark Gardner, Historian and Author, Colorado Springs, CO
26 February 2010.

The History of New Mexico's Territorial Penitentiary
Charlie Zdavesky, Historian, Albuquerque
17 March 2010.

Zebulon Montgomery Pike: Anglo Interloper, American Hero
Brian Murphy, Historian, Santa Fe
14 April 2010.

For additional information, please contact Tomas Jaehn at tomas.jaehn@state.nm.us or call (505) 476.5090.