SPEAKERS BUREAU HIGHLIGHT: PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH AND BEYOND

The Speakers Bureau is a great resource for nonprofits and schools to bring enriching educational programs to their audiences.

Women’s History Month in March is fast approaching, and now is the perfect time to book  NMHC’s Speakers Bureau featured programs. Below are three exceptional programs to share here, but our catalog includes many other options to explore.   Don’t miss the opportunity to bring these programs to your community and celebrate women’s contributions to history.

La Nina: Nina Otero-Warren
Presented by Deborah Blanche

Educator, feminist, public welfare director, politician, businesswoman, she was all of these and more. Honored by her depiction on the US quarters series of 2022, she is best remembered for her role in securing passage of the women’s suffrage amendment by the New Mexico legislature. Afterward Nina wasted no time before tossing her chapeau into the ring and becoming the first woman in New Mexico to run for Congress. Born into two of the most influential families of the state ”Los Luna and Los Otero”, Nina moved to Santa Fe as a teenager and made it her home for a lifetime. Never timid about taking charge, she was superintendent of schools; an organizer of Santa Fe Fiesta, Indian Market, Spanish Colonial Arts Society; matriarch of her large family and hostess to her extensive social circle of artists, writers, historians, priests and politicians. Nina reminisces and confides, answers and disclaims, takes you back on the campaign trail of 1922, shares some of her post pandemic experiences, even tells stories from her book Old Spain in Our Southwest. Ever provocative, she also raises questions about why women have not yet been written into the US Constitution; the inequities in health, labor and education for Native Americans and Hispanics; and the role of the arts. language and culture in education.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “Notorious RBG”
Presented by Dianne Layden

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away in September 2020, is celebrated for her work as an attorney, federal judge, and Supreme Court justice, notably on behalf of gender equality. Her life will be presented in both a lecture and Chautauqua portrayal that include her judicial opinions, family life, and reverence for opera. Ginsburg’s friendship with fellow justice and opera lover Antonin Scalia became the subject of the opera Scalia/Ginsburg, now performed worldwide. She visited Santa Fe with her family for many years and called the Santa Fe Opera the finest summer opera company in the world.

Amazing Women of the Wild West: Territorial New Mexico
Presented by VanAnn Moore

One of the most dramatic eras of New Mexico’s rich history is the Territorial period when the United States first raised the American flag on August 18, 1846 over the plaza of Santa Fe for the first time. This program examines the territorial women through living history portrayals of Doña Tules (Gertrudes Barcelo), Susan Shelby Magoffin, and Lydia Spencer Lane. These women represented what it took to survive and thrive during very colorful and extremely challenging times in New Mexico’s Territorial Era. It brings history into an understandable and personal reality. Doña Tules opened Santa Fe and New Mexico to America; through Susan Magoffin’s detailed journal we understand the beginning of New Mexico as a Territory; and through Lydia Spencer Lane we experience frontier military life and the beginning of the American Civil War out West.

It is important to celebrate heritage and history months such as Black History Month, Native American Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Women’s History Month. However, it’s also important to remember that these histories and heritages do not stop being relevant because the calendar has changed. It is always a good time to learn with a program from NMHC’s Speakers Bureau. Celebrate the people, stories and lessons throughout the year!