Tag Archives: Timeline

Delightful morning presenting Albuquerque and New Mexico history

NELDOC 2009 The talking part was fun, but I really enjoyed the question and answer portion. They asked for more about the uniqueness of the Indian Pueblos, their sovereignty and cultures, our flying saucer incidents (Roswell and Albuquerque), Oñate and the Duke of Alburquerque, “the missing R,” Spanish and Mexican impacts on New Mexico, New Mexico authors, and New Mexico futures.

This is a photo of me with Rick Chase, the District Director of Purdue’s Extension Service and one of the organizers of the conference. Rick was the gent that came across the 5 Perspectives on Albuquerque YouTube video and asked for an introductory presentation on Albuquerque’s and New Mexico’s history.

Great fun. Good people.

National Extension Leadership Development Conference talk

Talk about social networking — I got a FaceBook note last week asking if I could present the Timeline at the annual National Extension Leadership Development Conference here in Albuquerque! This came from the conference organizer from Purdue University who happened to come across the 5 Perspectives on Albuquerque video on YouTube.

I can’t quite say how tickled I am to have the opportunity to tell them some Albuquerque and New Mexico stories from the timeline. This is what I put the two years in for – so there would be a one-stop-shop for 600 years of our histories and cultures for people who would like such a summary. I’ll be taking one of the 2 ft x 8 ft copies to speak from, mounted on a plastic backing board so it can stand on two easels, and leaving it there the whole day so the 44 attendees from 13 North Central states can read it more closely on their breaks. Interestingly, their mission statement is … to build leadership in Cooperative Extension at all levels and provide current and future Extension leaders with the vision, courage, and tools to lead in a changing world.

I hope to get some pix of the event that I can post later this week.

Your very own 2 ft x 8 ft copy of the Albuquerque Timeline

A number of people ask me, “Where and how can I buy a copy of the Timeline?” Here is the info if you are one of those folks and have a couple of hundred bucks lying around – and – a large wall space to fill.

There are a couple of things you will want to know if you would like to purchase your very own  copy of the Albuquerque Historical Timeline:

  • the 2 ft x 8 ft size is the smallest that is easily eye-readable
  • each copy is a full-color exact replica of the 4 ft x 16 ft Convention Center original
  • each copy has a very resilient laminate protecting it
  • a single copy reproduction  goes for $200, and that includes any tax and shipping

New Mexico Big Prints are the good folks that produced the 4 ft x 16 ft copies of the Timeline at the Convention Center and at the Airport. They also produced the smaller, 2 ft x 8 ft copies for high school and middle school use throughout Albuquerque and the Archdiocese, and it’s this size that is available for  purchase. I suppose you could order a 4 ft x 16 ft size, but expect to come up with about $3,750 or so per copy.

The URL to contact the good folks at New Mexico Big Prints is http://www.nmbigprints.com/index3.html.

Chronology versus Timeline

tomsausalito

While I acknowledge this is a bit of a quibble, I’d like to see if I can explain and defend the differences and distinctions between a ‘Chronology‘ and a ‘Timeline.’

To me, the distinctions have to do with the different insights, understandings, and experiences that arise from viewing information in one format versus the other.

Let me show you what I mean with a simple example using the same basic dates and information displayed in the two formats:

Chronology

  • 1598 – Juan de Onate creates first permanent settlement
  • 1706 – Albuquerque area settled and named
  • 1821 – Mexican Independence
  • 1848 – U. S. Territorial era begins

and then —

Timeline

1598•••••••••••••••••••1706••••••••••••••••••••••18211848
•Onate creates                  •Albuquerque                           •Mexican               first permanent                 area   settled                          independence          settlement                         and named                                      •US Territorial

To my eye, the time context of the dates seem to tell a different, and somehow more effective, story in the timeline format. I believe one gets a deeper feeling for the relative periods of time and cultural influence  from this format.

That is why I chose to use a timeline format, even though it required a lot (a lot) of trial and error to:

  • get all the information into a single coordinated format
  • keep the overall physical length to 16 feet
  • figure out where to use 100-, 50-, 20- and 10-year visual time segments
  • see that adding a true-time-scale at the bottom was necessary to really  effectively visually represent the relative time frames for the 600 year timeline period

From most comments, it seems to work OK and support individuals in seeing the fascinating interactions between time, geography, demography and culture.

Welcome to the Albuquerque, New Mexico Timeline Blog

tomsausalito Welcome to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Historical and Cultural Timeline blog.

The idea for  the Albuquerque Historical and Cultural Timeline arose from a 2004 conversation with Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez. His mention of the upcoming 300th birthday of the founding and naming of Albuquerque stimulated me to put two years into creating the Albuquerque Historical and Cultural Timeline, correlating and displaying 600 years of historical and cultural events across New Mexico, the U.S., Mexico, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

I need to express deep appreciation here for the following individuals who very graciously provided information, assistance, support and guidance  throughout:

  • Elizabeth Chestnut – Historian, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
  • Dr. Linda Hall – History Professor, UNM
  • Scott Meredith – History PhD candidate, UNM
  • Dr. Cynthia Radding – Director of Latin American & Iberian Institute, UNM
  • Rubén Saláz – Historian, author, Tri-Centennial History Task Force
  • Dr. Joseph P. Sánchez – Superintendent of the Spanish Colonial Research Center, a partnership between the National Park Service and the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque
  • Joe S. Sando – Historian, author, Archive Director for Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
  • Deb Slaney – Curator of History – Albuquerque Museum of Art and History
  • Dr. Jane Slaughter – Professor and Chair of History Department, UNM
  • Juan M. Solana – Mexican Consul and Alberto Bernal Acero – Deputy Mexican Consul
  • Claude Stephenson – State Folklorist and author of The Albuquerque Arts Alliance “Albuquerque Cultural Survey”
  • Sandia Laboratories Graphic Arts Department
  • Don Couchman – Historian and Chairman of the Tricentennial History Task Force
  • Craig Newbill – Executive Director, New Mexico Humanities Council
  • Jerry Geist and Vicky Osborne – El Jefe and La Jefecita of the Tricentennial Committee

Without their support and assistance, the Timeline would not be visible to the public in the East Wing of the Convention Center and in the passenger waiting area of the Albuquerque International Sunport.

I intend through this blog to explore and present interesting historical and cultural stories contained within the Timeline in a series of blog-post and video formats. I hope you enjoy the very first video, “5 Perspectives on Albuquerque,” which is an overview of the structure and ‘how to read’ the timeline.

Your comments, thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Tom