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The awards ceremony will be held on Friday, May 16 at the Museum of International Folk Art.
Source: New Mexico Historic Preservation Division
Photo: Courtesy
Cover Photo: A early 1950s instrumentation site at White Sands Missile Range. The cinder block building is an elevated cinethedolite shelter and featured two hydraulic hoists that would lift two heavy Askania Cinetheodolites (photographic instruments) through openings in the roof where they would track and film missile flights. In the 1960s the astrodome was added to house a singular camera and operator. Hundreds of similar instrumentation sites were built at White Sands Missile Range in the 1950s and 1960s to support tests of the Nike Hercules and Ajax missile systems amongst many others. The Cultural Resources program at White Sands Missile Range continues to actively document, evaluate and interpret these Cold War era resources.
Santa Fe, NM – The New Mexico Historic Preservation Division is thrilled to host the 53rd Annual Historic Preservation Awards, which celebrate the best historic preservation projects of the past year. The awards ceremony will be held on Friday, May 16 at the Museum of International Folk Art.
“Each May, Heritage Preservation Month offers a chance to commemorate the ongoing work that goes into safeguarding New Mexico’s history,” said State Historic Preservation Officer Michelle Ensey. “As part of that celebration, the Historic Preservation Awards recognize the standout people and projects in the preservation community each year.”
Since 1973, the Cultural Properties Review Committee has presented the Heritage Preservation Awards as part of Heritage Preservation Month. The following people, organizations, and projects have been selected to receive awards.
Heritage Preservation Award for Organizations: Mora Valley Mills Committee. Formed in 2023, this committee worked together to preserve local commercial gristmills —the St. Vrain Mill, Cleveland Roller Mill, La Cueva Mill, and Gordon-Sánchez Mill—and the other significant resources of the Mora River Valley in the wake of the devastation wrought by the 2022 wildfires.
Archaeological Heritage Preservation Award: Historic Belén Cemetery Project. The Historic Belén Bioarchaeological Project was a multi-year project investigating the First Nuestra Señora de Belén Mission Church, Plaza Vieja, founded in 1793 in Belén. As a result of the project, the footprint and foundation of the church were identified, and unmarked human remains encountered in the historic cemetery were excavated and analyzed to learn about health and trauma issues the daily Genízaro community may have faced.
Heritage Preservation Award for Individuals: Christopher D. Adams. Christopher Adams, East Zone Archaeologist with the Black Range District of the Gila National Forest, has researched pre-Hispanic copper artifacts from archaeological sites using metal-sensing technology. When the Black Fire erupted, Chris honored a commitment to present at the annual SiteWatch conference on the results of his investigations into the distribution of native copper nuggets and artifacts within the Mimbres area of the Gila National Forest, before departing to help fight the fire.
Heritage Preservation Award for Organizations: New Mexico State Land Office. Over the last few years, the New Mexico State Land Office and the Commissioner of Public Lands has worked to improve stewardship of state trust lands. Since December 2022, the State Land Office has doubled cultural resource staff and recently hired a full-time tribal liaison, among other key changes.
Dr. Henry Walt, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and the Pueblo of Isleta. Dr. Walt has demonstrated remarkable leadership in cultural preservation through various initiatives, including regular communication with Sandia National Laboratories Cultural Resource Program and engaging in collaborative projects on Sandia-managed lands. Currently, Sandia and Dr. Walt have teamed up to identify and ground truth well-known trails leading from Isleta through Kirtland Air Force Base.
Lifetime Achievement Award: John Kessell. John Kessell is one of the great historians of the American Southwest. Kessell’s career as a historian and writer spans 40 years, with highlights including his book Kiva, Cross and Crown, which chronicled the Franciscans in early Spanish New Mexico.
The Historic Preservation Awards begin at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May 16 and a reception will follow in the Museum of International Folk Art atrium. Learn more at nmhistoricpreservation.org.
About the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division: NMHPD manages, oversees, and coordinates historic preservation activities across the state. The division educates the public about historic preservation and protects thousands of historic and archaeological sites in New Mexico. If you have ever visited an archaeological site, stopped on the side of the road to read a historic marker, or appreciated a well-maintained historic building in your community, you have likely engaged with the work of the NMHPD.
