TomMilesABQ-Albuquerque Historical Timeline

Patricia Forbes and I moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2001 seeking a change from the traffic and humidity of the Washington, D. C. area.

I grew up just north of here, in Southern Colorado’s beautiful San Luis Valley where I went from kindergarden through high school as an Anglo kid with a lot of Hispanic and Mexican friends. But I never really thought much beyond the John Wayne – Red Rider – Cochise – cowboys and Indians version of ‘the west.’

In D. C., I sold early Executive Information System software to the Department of Defense and taught computer graphic management systems at the DoD Computer Institute. Through that, I came to love the idea of ‘graphicalizing’ data and information to create user-friendly understanding for normal, non-technical mortals. (There’s an interesting story about how one computer graphics project ended up costing AT&T $25 million by graphicalizing systemic unequal wage and job title treatment of women employees nationwide.)

Little did I know that a simple conversation with Albuquerque’s Mayor Martin Chavez in 2004 would lead me on a two-year unfunded effort that would end up in an Albuquerque History and Culture Timeline. Or that a 4 ft x 16 ft copy would be installed in April 2006 in the East Wing of the Convention Center celebrating Albuquerque’s 300th birthday.

Or that it would still be there 3 years later, and a sister copy would be installed in the passenger waiting area at the Albuquerque International Airport.

While creating the timeline was completely unfunded, I am still very much appreciative of all the great individuals I met and interviewed, all the moral support and encouragement they offered, and the many insights I received into Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Mexico’s fascinating history and integral connectedness with the histories and cultures of the greater U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific.

I hope at least a few of the posts and videos on this blog are as much fun for you as they are for me.

Tom