The International Women's Forum of New Mexico (IWF-NM) and the City of Santa Fe will hold a public ceremony on June 24, 2024. This ceremony is to honor and celebrate the legacy of three remarkable Santa Fe women.
The ceremony will be held from 10 am to 12 pm at the State Supreme Court Law Library. Remarks will be made by the Honorable David K. Thomson, Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber will read a proclamation. A brief ribbon cutting will be held for each marker following the remarks.
Sited along the Santa Fe River between Old Santa Fe Trail and Don Gaspar Avenue, the three markers will create a Women’s River Walk that includes one of the first New Mexico Historic Women Markers, installed in 2007 for Mary Magdalen and the Sisters of Loretto (1852-1968), nuns who survived the grueling Santa Fe trail and went on to establish Our Lady of Light Academy, the territory’s first school for young women.
The new markers will honor
- Dorothy McKibbin (1897-1985) “Gatekeeper of Los Alamos” Secretary for the Manhattan Project
- Myra Ellen Jenkins (1916-1993), who helped develop New Mexico’s modern historic preservation movement
- Dona Teresa de Aquilera y Roche (1663), outspoken wife of the Governor who was arrested and extradited to Mexico City with her husband but successfully fought charges by the Holy Office of the Inquisition
The new markers are the most recent additions to the New Mexico Historic Women Marker Program, established in 2006 to research, recognize, and celebrate the crucial contributions of women past, present, and future to the fascinating and vibrant culture of New Mexico.
After two decades of statewide public-private collaboration and support for the program, today, nearly 125 women in New Mexico history are profiled on roadside markers throughout the state, and their contributions are documented on the New Mexico Historic Women Marker Program website (www.nmhistoricwomen.org).
In partnership with the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), New Mexico Tourism Department, New Mexico Department of Transportation (DOT), and New Mexico Public Education Department (PED), the program is now focused on the future: Educate, inspire, and empower people throughout New Mexico by building awareness and promotion of the markers to residents and visitors, cultivating key partnerships, and inspiring new trailblazers through K-12 curriculum, digital archives, improved website capabilities, active social media engagement, permanent and traveling exhibitions, and an active speakers bureau.
