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Richard Melzer is originally from Teddy Roosevelt's hometown of Oyster Bay, New York. He has lived in New Mexico since 1973.Dr. Melzer earned his Ph.D. in History at UNM in 1979. He taught history at the University of New Mexico's Valencia Campus from 1979 to 2019, retiring as a UNM Regents Professor of History. He is a past two-term president of the Historical Society of New Mexico, the author, co-author, or editor of over a hundred articles and chapters as well as over 30 books about New Mexico history. Ten of his books have won major book awards.Among the many awards he has received for writing, teaching, and service to his profession, he is most proud of receiving the University of New Mexico's Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.
Jonathan Pringle is the Archives Division Director for the State Archives of New Mexico and has been serving in this capacity since October 2023. Before this he was an archivist with the University of New Mexico’s Health Sciences Library (2019-2023); Northern Arizona University’s Cline Library (2011-2019); and the Museum of Northern Arizona (2008-2011). He graduated from the University of British Columbia’s Master of Archival Studies program in 2008. A relative newbie to genealogical research, he enjoys helping patrons find information that was previously unknown to them and using it to fill in familial gaps.
Dena Hunt has been working on genealogical projects since the age of ten when she helped her great grandfather gather information on his father who was a Civil War Veteran. She has been obsessed with genealogy since then. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Art History from the University of Denver and Certification in Museum Studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She is also certified in American Genealogy from the National Genealogical Society. Currently, she has her dream job working at the New Mexico State Archives where she assists patrons with uncovering the past and family secrets.
Jeremy Jojola is a lifelong television news journalist whose career has been marked by high level investigations and feature stories that have resonated with people in multiple communities. He’s worked in El Paso, Albuquerque and most recently in Denver where he lives with his family. Jeremy has a passion for the history and heritage of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico where his family has lived for generations. He runs the Cuentos y Corazón social media profiles in which he features stories from the homeland.
Juanita Jaramillo Lavadie is a native Taoseña with family ties on both sides of the Rio Grande in Northern New Mexico that go back several generations. As a retired educator, she taught at Taos Pueblo, Taos Municipal Schools, and Albuquerque Public Schools. She is a parciante of the Acequia de los Sanchez from the Rio del Pueblo, working with the Taos Valley Acequia Association and the New Mexico Acequia Association. She has worked on oral history projects and published manuscripts to include a 2014 chapter “Four Generations of Weaving” in the book: Taos, a Topical History, by the Taos County Historical Society and UNM Press. As a multi-media artist, Juanita Lavadie works with weaving, painting, murals, intaglio, writing and book-making that reflect on the concept of Querencia, honoring her cultural heritage. Her work presents contemporary use of traditional hand-skills, with the intent to promote dialogue and ensuing questions.
Karen S. Córdova is a business woman and poet. Though she lives in California, Karen has deep roots both in Colorado and New Mexico. Much of her writing reflects love of her heritage by weaving stories about la gente of the Southwest. Her ancestors are Spanish, Native American, and a few extranjero mountain men who wandered west.
Karen’s work has been published in many journals. She loves participating in formal poetry events and giving poetry presentations to the general public. She has co-curated several Ekphrasis events with poets and artists. Her first book, Farolito, casts a Hispano light on the dark subject of elder abuse, but also illuminates a jagged path to unexpected healing. Farolito was a finalist for the 2016 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for Poetry.
Olivia Romo is a bilingual poet, water rights advocate, and passionate storyteller from Taos, New Mexico. She holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in English and Chicana/o Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2015. Currently based in Santa Fe, Olivia serves as a Field Representative for U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich for Northern New Mexico in areas such as agriculture, healthcare, housing, and education.
Olivia's work masterfully intertwines art and activism. In 2023, she was a featured artist in Ojos Diferentes, an innovative augmented reality project that poetically reimagined Robert Oppenheimer’s office located at 109 E. Palace Avenue in Santa Fe. As a dedicated community and literary leader, she has curated the Community Storytelling Event for the SOMOS Taos Storytelling Festival for three consecutive years and continues to empower youth through her writing workshops. Through her poetry and dynamic public engagement, Olivia mobilizes New Mexicans in the protection and uncertainties of their land, water and culture.
Antonette Gonzales was born in Taos, New Mexico to the Archuleta and Ortega line. She is a retired 5th and 6th grade teacher from the Taos schools. She also taught Title 1 Reading for St. Francis School for four years until the school was closed. Her career as a teacher spanned for 29 years. She attended NMSU and received a BS in Elementary Education. She received her first MA from Adams State College in Elementary Ed and Reading, and her second MA from Highlands University in Bilingual Education. Antonette has been doing genealogy for 44 years; researching her own and helping others to do theirs. She has been the Director for the Taos Family History Center for over 40 years. She has done several genealogy workshops on how to do research and building trees. She has been married to Joe R. Gonzales for 53 years and has three children: Nina and Jimmy, Juan-karlo and Mayra, and Adam and Laureana. She is proud to say she has eight grandchildren: Noemi, Alma, Luna, Jesse, Coady, Jacobi, Theo and Otto who live in Idaho, Argentina and New Mexico.
Professor Emeritus, Deacon Larry Torres is a native of Taos, New Mexico, where he was born in 1954. He has taught all levels of education and retired after 43 years in the classroom. He was professor of French, Russian, Spanish, Latin, Italian and Bilingual Education and retired from both Taos High School and UNM-Taos in 2018. Furthermore, he was a founding father of the School for International Studies in Memphis, Tennessee.
In addition to a teaching career, and garnering various local, state, and national accolades, Larry Torres has published over three thousand articles in newspapers and magazines on many aspects of New Mexican Culture and Religion. His most recent novels include various books like: Los Matachines Unmasked, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, In the Footsteps of the Hermit, The Children the Blue Nun and Journal of a Cowboy among others.
He was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate by Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, in June of 2014 and he has been an active Deacon of the Church of La Santísima Trinidad in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico for the last eight years.
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​​Estevan Rael-Galvez, Keynote speaker.