A Season of Doing What We Do Best

Archive Reception
he new and beautiful New Mexico State Records Center and Archives building was the scene of the NMJHS Archive Reception on March 25, 1999. A large and enthusiastic crowd of more than 100 people attended this spectacular event. The program was entertaining and informative. The more than 100 participants listened attentively as Bob Fein,

Sharon Herzog at the archive reception.

a Society member and Rain God collector, talked about an early example of this famous creation of the Tesuque Pueblo. Bob explained the connection between the Rain God and the now famous early Jewish merchant, Jake Gold. A creative owner of a Santa Fe Plaza curio shop, Jake Gold promoted the manufacture of a pottery figure by the Tesuque Indians. These seated dolls became known as Rain Gods and they became famous items for the tourist trade in New Mexico. They were even used as a premium give-away by a Chicago candy manufacturer who included a Rain God with each box of chocolates he sold.
       In addition to the intriguing information about the Rain God, the NMJHS unveiled a preview of artifacts and memorabilia which will be included in the June 2000 exhibit on Jewish

Fay Chaikin, Reggie Klien, and Jack Chaikin viewng the archives exhibit.

Pioneers in New Mexico. This ambitious exhibition is being planned by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Many artifacts, documents, books and photos from our collection will be offered to the Museum Foundation for the exhibit. Our Archive Reception guests could view both loaned and donated items beautifully set out on eight display tables. Many of these new acquisitions were viewed by the public for the first time. Among the early pioneer families represented in the displays were the Bacharach, Beck, Bibo, Freudenthal, Gold, Ilfeld, Solomon, and Spiegelberg families. The afternoon was enhanced by the fact that several descendants of these early New Mexico Jewish families attended the reception.
      A brief overview of the Jewish Pioneers exhibition was presented by Tom Chavez, Director of the Palace of the Governors Museum. David Snow, exhibit curator for the Museum, also talked about the scope and logistics of this important installation which debuts at the Palace of the Govenors next year.

Oral History Workshop at St. Johnís College

e had a very successful introductory oral history workshop at St. Johnís College on February 28, 1999. Almost two dozen turned out for the two-hour workshop. It was an excellent group, very interested and involved. We covered the fundamentals, such as how to prepare to do an oral history, including research and legal clearance; how to research and structure an interview; techniques of questioning; and ethical issues. People shared their particular interest in oral history. Several were writing techniques, several used oral history in a professional setting, others wanted to collect family stories, and some wanted the training to be able to participate in future NMJHS oral history projects.
      We plan to follow up with another how-to oral history workshop in Albuquerque in the fall, possibly October. In the meantime, we will be designing an oral history program to begin obtaining the stories of people in our area.
      For more information, or to get on a mailing list for future workshops call Sharon at 505-262-2388 or e-mail at: sherites@unm.edu.