ACT NOW!

Protect the future of the National Endowment for the 

Humanities and the New Mexico Humanities Council 

The Trump Administration's Office of Management and Budget has recommended elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  The combined savings from these drastic measures would be 0.02% of federal spending (read more). NMHC receives core funding from the NEH and is essential in enabling us to provide a broad spectrum of outstanding public humanities programming throughout the state. These programs are tailored to local and regional interests and reach geographical areas and groups that would otherwise not have access to such programs.

A preliminary federal budget is expected to be released in March. It is critical that you voice your support for the preservation of the NEH and associated state humanities councils today.

TAKE ACTION!

• CALL your congressional delegation. Phone calls have the greatest impact. Here are some tips:
  • Contact representatives for your district only and both senators
  • Tell them what community you are in
  • Keep it short and to the point
  • Tell a personal story about the impact of NMHC programming
  • Include a thank you to those who have demonstrated support for NEH (Senator Udall recently signed a  letter of support).
• WRITE to your representatives. Again, tell a story about how an NMHC program has enriched a person, an organization or a community and what would be lost without access to it.
• SHARE this effort with friends, on social media and with us. We want to know about the action you're taking.
• DONATE to the NMHC. Your financial support enables us to continue to provide programming that enriches individual lives and strengthen community.

Contact information for your New Mexico congressional delegation

Letter campaign

Donate

Your support not only influences outcomes in New Mexico but for all 56 state humanities councils benefiting 5,300 communities and 43 million people nation-wide. Thank you for standing with us.

The arts and sciences essential to the prosperity of the state and to the ornament and happiness of human life have a primary claim to the encouragement of every lover of his country and mankind.

George Washington (1732-1799), First United States President

Spring back to Spring/Summer library hours

Library closes at 6 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays again starting on Tuesday, Feb. 28th.

old literature for sale

The library has the following for sale - $1 each.

5- 1930 Literary Digest Magazines

Approximately 100 - 1913-1929 National Geographic Magazines SOLD! as of 2/27

don't forget!   

THIS SATURDAY-March4th: $5 for a bag of BOOKS!

Orphan Train rides into town - First Friday - March 3 at 7pm

Riders on the Orphan Train - Child Emigrants to New Mexico

 is coming to the Capitan Public Library for the First Friday Program on 

March 3 at 7 pm.   Funded by the New Mexico Humanities Council, this program

 is the official touring outreach program from The National Orphan Train Complex

 Museum and Research Center in Concordia, Kansas.  

The subject of the Orphan Trains is an eleventh hour situation as the last few survivors

 of the 250,000 orphans and unwanted children that were “placed out” are now reaching

 the end of their lives. Of particular interest to the New Mexico audience will be the 

discovery of the part this state played in the “placing out” movement. In 1904, several 

children came to Clayton and Des Moines from the New York Foundling Hospital and

 additional placements occurred in San Jon soon after. We are hoping to discover new

 stories of Riders who came to New Mexico and want to especially invite any 

descendants to the presentation to share family stories.

This historical presentation is designed to inform, entertain, and move audiences of all origins and ages. It combines storytelling, music, video with archival photographs and contemporary interviews of survivors, and informal discussion with a question and answer period to bring awareness about this little-known chapter of the largest child 

migration in history. 

In 1853, Methodist minister Charles Loring Brace was shocked at the number 

of homeless children he found in the streets of New York. He founded The Children’s

 Aid Society that  year and between 1854 and 1929 sent out over 250,000 orphans 

and “surrendered” children  of single parents. These children found homes in every

 state  in the continental United States.

Beginning in 1863, the Sisters of Charity of the New York Foundling Hospital 

also sent out children, specifically to Catholic families that requested them

 through their local priest.  Until a PBS documentary in 1995, this subject was 

largely unknown and is still not included in history books. 

This presentation was originally created by novelist/humanities scholar Alison Moore

 and musician/ producer Phil Lancaster as an outreach program for the Orphan 

Train Heritage Society of America, Inc. The two are now based in Austin, TX,

 and have been  touring the U.S. since 1998; this is their fourth tour

 New Mexico for presentations in museums and libraries.

Alison Moore's historical novel, Riders on the Orphan Train , written with

 a fellowship from The National Endowments for the Arts will be 

available for purchase at the March 3 presentation. 

 In 2012, Moore and Lancaster were awarded the Charles Loring

 Brace Award for their contributions to raising awareness

 about the Orphan Train movement.

See more information go to  www.ridersontheorphantrain.org 

After the program, refreshments will be provided.

Snowy Sunday quilt day at the library

Wanda Polhemus's quilt that she made.  She still hand stitches all her quilts.

Pat Garrett's pink quilt and George Shaffer's star quilt

Lynn Jeffery - quilt made for her after all of her quilts burned in a house fire.

Mary English's butterfly applique quilt

Molly Masen's quilt.  Wanda helping by holding.

Many quilts came out on Feb 12 program with Marlene Siepel

Donna Clarke shows her mother's quilt

Donna's mother - Diane examines other quilts

Nature scenes embroidery on quilt

Learned that you should always bring a picture of the quilt maker.

George Shaffers's heritage quilt.

Marlene Siepel, shows an "ugly" utility quilt that she saved from dirt & mildew by washing with Woolite in a tub using her feet to squish out the dirt, then dried by spreading it out on a sheet in the yard (but not too long in the sun!)  Never machine wash or dry clean a heritage quilt because the harsh treatment could break the threads. Assisting in holding up quilts is tall Paul Durham.

Pat Durham won the door prize quilt hand pieced by former residents of the Sunny Quilters at Sunshine Haven nursing home in Lordsburg, NM, and machine quilted by volunteers.

Creative Aging

Chief Hooker of the Ruidoso Police is our speaker for Creative Aging Monthly Meeting on

 Friday February17, at 10:00am ENMU #115. All are welcome.

Chief Hooker will address scams and other fraudulent behaviors that appear to specifically target older adults.  There will be time for questions on any subjects related to safety and our police presence.   A second guest who is new to our area from Aging and Long Term Services will also be present and will answer questions concerning different health insurance plans. Elizabeth Sanchez, headquartered in Roswell, is the Regional \ State Health Insurance Program Coordinator.  Clara Farah, 575.973.7835. clrfarah@gmail.com

Program Schedule for rest of 2017

First Fridays 7pm:                                                             Social Sundays 2pm:

Mar 4th	Orphan Train						Mar-12	Doodling with Catherine Alred -  doodle class
April 7	Underground ranger Douglas Thompson						April 23	Attracting Mason Bees to your garden  w/ Imelda Horne
May 6th	Plant Sale on a Saturday 8 am							Hands on - make a beehive
Jun-02	Chautauqua:Billie Holiday (to be confirmed)
July 4th	HOT DOG SALE						Summer-TBA	David Higgins History of Money 90 min presentation
Jul-07	Open date
Aug4	Chautauqua: Dale Evans - Kay Kuhlmann
Sept 1	Open date
Oct-06	Donna Birchell - Wicked Women of NM
Nov 03	Hopefuls-music
Dec 2	HOLIDAY BAZAAR on a Saturday 8am

on Sunday -Feb 12 @ 3pm. Join us - bring grandma's quilt

BookTalkers - Feb 12 @ 3pm

Join us at the library 

for our second Sunday 

afternoon BookTalkers 

program. Refreshments 

afterwards.

 

On Sunday, Feb 12,at 3 pm,  

Marlene Siepel, will tell us

 of  the  inception of an idea

 that  grew into a 5-year 

display of historical quilts and 

then into an actual book.

Marlene Siepel

Marlene Siepel was the library director at the Lordsburg Hidalgo Library in 2007

when the idea that a quilt show would be an excellent way to show pioneer women's contribution to the settling and homesteading of Hidalgo County.. 

Volunteers worked on the getting people to show their quilts and interviewed the 

quilt owners,  or if possible, the quilt maker.  The original requirement was that the

quilter had a family member connection to a resident of Hidalgo County.  

Hand-sewn quilts of original homesteaders to Hidalgo County came out of cedar chests. 

Siepel explains in a Hidalgo County Herald article,  

"Many of the women led homesteader lives in the unsettled territory or 

early statehood days of Southwest New Mexico.  A number of women

continued quilting through the Great Depression and WorldWar II.  Their biographical histories give a picturesque description of the lives 

they led and offers genealogical information for their families. Some

women were able to give their own first account information for the biographies.  All information is authentic and an important part

of New Mexico History."

 

The 2-day quilt show continued to happen for five years, 

2007 to 2012, with a total of 350 quilts & hand-work pieces displayed over the years.  Biographies of each quilter was shown with the display.  The quilts became a genealogical journey for Hidalgo County.

Ladies of the "Boot Heel" - Their Stories with Quilts highlights 107 quilts pictures with 

biographies of their makers. Books will be for sale with proceeds going to the Friends

 of the Lordsburg Hidalgo Library.

The Heritage Quilt show and the followup book came about through a cooperative

effort of many individual volunteers, the community & organizations, including:

• The Lordsburg Hidalgo Library, 
• Lordsburg Hidalgo Chamber of Commerce,
• Lordsburg Hidalgo County Museum, 
• Lordsburg County Herald, 
• NMSU Hidalgo County Extensive Service,
• City of Lordsburg, Hidalgo County,
• and Hidalgo County Tourism.

This small spark of an idea to give women pioneers a place in at annual community

event  grew because community groups and individuals were able to join hands and

make it happen.  Yet the best outcome of the effort was important

oral history was documented and saved for  eternity. 

Siepel was the library director at Lordsburg Hidalgo Library for 27 years. 

Her husband, Charlie, is Professor Emeritus for the N M Cooperative

Extension Service at NMSU.   He retired  as the Southwest District

Director  for the NM Cooperative  Extension Service when they moved

Lincoln County in 2014. Siepel  currently teaches line dance at the

Capitan Senior Center &  Canaan Trail  Baptist Church.  

If you have a heritage hand-sewn quilt, bring it to Capitan Public Library Booktalkers program on Sunday, Feb 12, at 3pm.  The audience will have their own brief journey through quilts to pay tribute to our mothers, grandmothers, aunts and sisters who passed down family quilts to us! The quilt tells the story.
(Shown quilts were made by Sharon Stewart's maternal grandmother from Fairy/Cransfil Gap, TX)

 

Spiri program of most interest on Feb 3

Jim Spiri kept Capitan Public Library audience spellbound with his story of following his life goal to be an on-the-ground  war photojournalist.  Spiri continues his journalistic endeavors by publishing a new local newspaper, Lincoln County Leader.  jimspiri@gmail.com

Captive audience at Spri program last Friday.
They really do look like captives between bookshelves on either side!

Don't forget First Friday event this Friday

Oodles of Doodles - Catherine Alred

 The current art on display at the Capitan Public Library is 
Oodles of Doodles by Catherine Alred.  Artwork is for sale, as well as bookmarks and packaged note cards with pens.
 Join us Sunday afternoon, March 12 at 2 pm for a doodle class with Catherine.  She'll bring the supplies, we just need to bring our creativity.  Refreshments served afterwards.  We'll take that time to admire each others' doodles.

Ruidoso resident, Catherine Alred, has been doodling as far back as she can 

remember. As a child she always was 

coloring and drawing. Recalling one of her

 earliest works,  she described a piece she created 

when she was 10 years old.  “I just decided to try to

 doodle an actual ‘thing’ and spent hours and

 hours drawing a large  abstract bird. It’s very interesting to study it now and realize how much my doodling has evolved over the decades." 

Catherine’s doodles, however, are not quite the kind of doodles one would

expect when observing someone idly drawing. Catherine’s doodles are

very detailed and intricate. She further illustrates by saying, “My doodles are just a result of me taking a pen or pencil for a walk. 

I don’t plan the design; it just evolves.”

People seeing her work for the first time are

 often in disbelief and ask,

 “Did you really do that?”  

The fanciful lines, dots, and curls are executed

 in such  precision that people often wonder if a  computer produced them.

The vast majority of her work is free form. 

“Just doodling in a random,  free form way is my

 favorite way of doodling, but I’ve also doodled 

initials, butterflies, paisleys, initials, birds, etc.” 

Although she always keeps a sketchpad nearby, at times no piece of paper 

is safe from her pen. Her doodling can be found on magazine pages, 

calendars, concert programs, and even grocery lists.  Noting that she 

often cannot restrain herself from picking up a pen and starting a new piece, she added, “Doodling is very relaxing to me. I go into a calm,

 meditative state.”

Doodling is more than just an artistic endeavor. 

“It helps me concentrate.

I’ve always doodled in meetings and lectures. 

Doodling helps me be a good listener.” 

 She noted the findings of a British psychologist:

“Doodling or scribbling during meetings or class can improve content 

memory by 29%.” 

“That definitely applies to me. Doodles are in the margins 

of practically  every set of class notes I ever took in college. Give me a handout or an 

agenda at a meeting and I will doodle all over it.”

She has even incorporated her doodles into her love  of working with textiles. "I enlarged one of my doodles and transferred it to fabric.  Using contrasting fabrics, beads, and metallic threads, I embroidered the doodle on a throw pillow." 

She particularly enjoys sharing her work with others.  "I've incorporated my doodles into all sorts of items: bookmarks, note cards, decoupage boxes, framed pieces, even mugs and coasters," she says.
  

After graduating from Angelo State University with an English major and art minor, Catherine earned a master’s degree in educational administration 

from Sul Ross University. She pursued her career in education 

in West Texas prior to moving to Ruidoso in 2010 with her husband, 

Dr. Clayton Alred, ENMU-Ruidoso president.                

Her emphasis on art has always been prominent in her positions.
 “I found it such a pleasure to actually teach the art of  doodling to a large group of kindergarten children. It was amazing to see how young children quickly caught on and produced amazing drawings.”

(the above article is paraphrased from a 2012 article in the Ruidoso News)

The value of the doodle

Barbara Lane, Ruidoso News 1:06 p.m. MDT August 5, 2015

Sunni Brown, author of The Doodle Revolution, writes, "Our culture is so intensely focused on verbal communications, that we're almost blinded to the value of doodling. Doodling has a profound impact on the way that we can process information and the way that we can solve problems." Doodling facilitates learning.

An article published in TIME magazine some years ago lauded the value of doodling. It recalled an experiment in which forty individuals were asked to listen to a monologue. The speaker talked about a number of seemingly random things, but included lists of places and names. Half of the study participants were asked to doodle as they listened. The other half simply listened. Afterward, participants were asked to recall the names and places named in the recording. The results? The doodlers remembered almost 30 percent more of the requested information than the non-doodlers did.

Creative Aging’s Outreach programs: Lincoln County Medical Center’s Capitan Clinics - Jan 30 3-5pm

Creative Aging and the Capitan Library wish to invite you to an informal discussion on the Lincoln County Medical Center’s clinics in Lincoln County with a specific focus on the Capitan Clinic.

Monday, January 30^th from 3 to 5pm at the Capitan Library where speaker, Terry Riehl, who is the Practice Administrator, LCMC Medical Complex, will discuss the current operation of the clinic and the vision for its future. 

This is a follow session to Creative Aging’s Outreach programs, held most recently in Capitan in December. At this session there were many questions pertaining to access to the clinic operations.

Come with questions or just wanting to obtain more information about the clinic.

Bring friends and family.

 Refreshments will be served and friendships will be preserved!

Questions, call Clara Farah, Creative Aging at 575.973.7835, or clrfarah@gmail.com

Or Pat Garrett, Capitan Library, 575.354.3035.