Telling great stories: A look at five artifacts you might have missed at the 'Only in Albuquerque' exhibit

Editor’s note: The last Sunday of each month, Journal Arts Editor Adrian Gomez tells the stories behind some of the hidden gems you can see across the state in “Gimme Five.”

New Mexico’s history is as colorful as the sunsets.

Each piece of history comes together to create the mosaic we see today.

The Albuquerque Museum is home to the permanent exhibit, “Only in Albuquerque,” which is told through four galleries – Spirited, Courageous, Resourceful and Innovative.

Hundreds of the city’s most beloved artifacts are featured.

Alicia Romero, curator of history at the museum, highlights five pieces within the exhibit.

“Everything I included is on exhibit and we want people to come in and see what we’re talking about,” Romero says. “We’re working on revamping some of the exhibit to add some new stories. A lot of the items have some really great stories attached to them.”

Telling great stories: A look at five artifacts you might have missed at the 'Only in Albuquerque' exhibit

1. Petrified Wood Folsom Point, circa 8,500 B.C.E.

The Petrified Wood Folsom Point, dates to about 8,500 B.C.E., Romero says.

It was found in the Folsom region in northern New Mexico.

“We should all know the story of George McJunkin, who was an African American farmhand,” Romero says. “He was also an amateur archaeologist who collected items while he was working on ranches.”

Romero says the Petrified Wood Folsom Point provides evidence of human interaction and hunting at an earlier date.

“(New Mexico) is a huge resource for dinosaur bones,” Romero says. “But to see some of this evidence of human life in northeast New Mexico. George was one of the first people to really start looking around in that area. He wasn’t there for scientific purposes. He just loved to collect bones and wanted to explore the area where he was living and working. He doesn’t get a lot of credit for his lasting impact.”

2. Daguerreotype of Padre Antonio José Martinez, circa 1847

Padre Antonio José Martinez became one of the first “hijo del pueblo” or native son who became a priest.

Romero says he was born in Abiquiú and later moved to Taos, where his parents built Hacienda Martinez.

“Padre Martinez became a priest later in life,” Romero says. “He had been married, had a child and his wife passed away. Then his daughter passed away. He entered the priesthood in Durango, Mexico, which, at that point in time, Mexico had just gotten its independence from Spain.”

After becoming a priest Padre Martinez returned to New Mexico and opened his own kind of school for young men to become priests.

“He brought the first printing press to New Mexico and printed his own newspaper,” she says. “He wanted to educate the people and when Willa Cather wrote ‘Death Comes for the Archbishop,’ I think people began to think that the Padre Martinez represented in the book is who he was. It’s taken a lot of work to correct the narrative because he brought so much to New Mexico.”

3. The Pie Case from the Alvarado Hotel, 1922

Romero says the pie case from the Alvarado Hotel is a reminder of the hotel, which was demolished in the 1970s.

She says it was a victim of the trend of “out with the old and in with the new.”

“The pie case is refrigerated and designed by Mary Colter,” she says. “It was part of the Harvey Hotels that was defining early luxury travel via railroad. When I look at this, we can see that Fred Harvey carted to the clientele that he had. Everything looked exquisite. We have fake pieces of pie in it now. I think that I may put more of a New Mexico flair to it when it gets redone.”

Romero says the pie case is a reminder of the time.

“The pie case symbolizes a lot because it represents the height of the railroad era in Albuquerque,” she says.

4. Cochiti Jar, circa 1890

Like the pie case, Romero says the Cochiti jar from around 1890 symbolizes a piece of Albuquerque culture.

“Our notes say it was part of other pottery sold outside of the Alvarado Hotel,” Romero says. “When we think of travelers coming, they were greeted with local culture and representations of what our local cultures were like. This was one of the first examples of companies selling local art. It’s really unique because Native Americans are being viewed as exotic. They were asked to sit outside and sell, just as we see in Old Town and at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe today.”

Romero says there’s also an important distinction of what was produced for tourists versus what was produced for daily use.

“They were protecting some of the things they were holding dear to them,” she says. “It’s a look at how we sell culture and who is really making that last buck.”

5. Ernie Pyle’s Folding Corona 3 Typewriter with Carrying Case, circa 1923

Romero says Ernie Pyle’s typewriter dates back to 1923 and what makes it significant is its story.

Pyle was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II.

He is known for the columns he wrote as a roving human-interest reporter from 1935 through 1941 for the Scripps-Howard newspaper syndicate.

“I think a lot of people know who Ernie Pyle is because he made the war come alive for people through his writing,” Romero says. “The typewriter was recovered in France after it was found in a foxhole.”

Pyle and his wife later built a house and lived in Albuquerque.

“By itself, it’s a beautiful object,” Romero says. “Ernie Pyle used it to communicate quickly. We were sent this typewriter and we see it as a testament to his courage, not only to journalism, but covering a fair story for the world to read.”