University Library News Release
Date: April 15, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
Depression-Era Interviews With Local Farmers Featured in Program
On Saturday, April 18, at 4 p.m., Dr. Jon Hunner of NMSU’s Public History Program will do a presentation on “New Mexico’s Voices: Local Oral Histories from the Writers’ Project.” The program will be in the Milton Gallery on the fourth floor of Branson Library.
The local oral histories are Federal Writers’ Project interviews with farmers from the southern part of Doña Ana County conducted during the mid-1930s and early 1940s. The farmers described their life during the Depression, how they came to New Mexico if they came from another state and how they made their living. Celia Geck, a descendant of one of those farmers, will be present at the program as a guest.
The program is part of “Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story,” a series of free public programs about the New Deal Federal Writers’ Project. The programs are co-sponsored by the New Mexico State University Library, Branigan Cultural Center and the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library.
“Soul of a People” programs in libraries nationwide are presented with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): great ideas brought to life.
The local programs are made possible by a Soul of a People grant to the NMSU Library from the NEH with additional funding from the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico.
For more information, contact Mardi Mahaffy at (575) 646-6925 or mmahaffy@lib.nmsu.edu or Sylvia Ortiz at (575) 646-7481 or sortiz@lib.nmsu.edu or visit http://lib.nmsu.edu/projects/soul/.
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