July 2025 NM History & Culture Opportunities

The Albuquerque Historical Society & the Historical Society of NM

Encourage your participation in the following history & cultural events:

THE ALBUQUERQUE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, July 20, 2 pm, free. “Celebrating 70 years of music: 95.5 classical KHFM”. Alexis Corbin will describe the history of ABQ’s first FM station. Free parking & free admission to the ABQ Museum in Old Town. albuqhistsoc.org.

FREE LIBRARY SUMMER READING PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN Go to abqlibrary.org to review listing by location, days and times! Lots of daily activities at all 19 branches in July including music, art, crafts, puppets, magic, juggling. Be sure to look for all kinds of free family & children’s activities. Keep a record of books read and earn prizes.

SUMMER MUSIC/DANCING AT OLD TOWN PLAZA every Friday night, Saturday/Sun afternoons and nights. https://www.cabq.gov/artsculture/historic-old-town/summertime-in-old-town

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument free ranger led hikes – all at 11 am. Fridays at Abo, Saturdays at Gran Quivira and Sundays at Quarai. More information at nps.gov/sapu/planyourvisit or call 847-2585 X 221.

FREE SUMMER LUNCH MEAL PROGRAM AT OVER 90 CITY/COUNTY LOCATIONS for ages 18 & under, must be eaten on site. The cabq.gov and bernco.gov websites list the locations.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEW MEXICO. New Mexico became the 47th state on January 6, 1912. Read about it, https://newmexicohistory.org/nm-journey-to-become-a-state/. Visit – NewMexicoHistory.org to view thousands of entries: photos, videos, podcasts, Timelines for the five periods of NM History & More! The New Mexico State Historian Rob Martinez can be reached at 505-476-7911.

JULY 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 5-7 pm, free. Wednesdays at the Winrock Growers market/wellness Wednesdays at Winrock Park, east end of Winrock.

JULY 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, 7-8:30 pm, free. Guided hikes on Thursdays at Piedras Marcadas Canyon. These hikes are 1.5 miles total in length. No amenities in the Piedras Marcadas Canyon parking lot. Bring water with you and dress for the weather. Located at 9501 Golf Course Rd NW in Albuquerque. Double check for unexpected closures. Call 899-0205.

JULY 4 INDEPENDENCE DAY, numerous activities throughout the metro area.<

JULY 5, 9am, free. Guided Geology Hike at Volcano Day area with Ranger Ben, Sponsored by Petroglyph National Monument.

JULY 5, 11am-1pm, free. Civil War Battles of Glorieta Reenactment at Venus Park in Edgewood. Location is 181 NM 344.

JULY 5, 8-11am. Come help clean up Historic Fairview Cemetery, 700 Yale SE. Wear hard soled shoes and bring your own tools. The cemetery is open dawn to dusk and accessible through the gates of Fairview Memorial Park. www.HistoricFairviewCemeteryABQ.org or Facebook.com/The communityofHistoricFairviewCemetery. “Where the Past meets the Present”.

JULY 5, 7-10:30 pm, free. Star Party with ABQ Astronomical Society Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. 7851 2nd St. SW, 248-6667. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/valle-de-oro<

JULY 5, 12, 19, 26, 11am-1pm, free. Valles Caldera National Preserve, two mile hike. Meet at Volcano Discovery Center located at 39201 NM 4.  Jemez Springs, NM. Call 505-670-1612 for more info.

JULY 5, 12, 19, 26, 8am-12 noon, free. Winrock Artisan Market at Winrock Park.

JULY 5, 8:30-11am, free but register in advance. Bosque Wild Guided Hike, Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors NW. Contact Nick Bachand, 768-4951 or nbachand@cabq.gov.

JULY 5, 10 am, free. Sage Vogel “Dichos en Nichos” a story collection set in a 1950s Northern NM Village. Wheels Museum, 1100 2nd SW. More detail WheelsMuseum.org, 243-6269.

JULY 6, free. First Sunday free admission for all NM residents to the Visual Arts Museum. National Hispanic Cultural Center, nhccnm.org.

Albuquerque Press Women & Friends take summer break. 

Friends of Tijeras Pueblo take summer break.

JULY 8, 3-5 pm, free. The Valley Tune Tanglers perform fiddle tunes and sing along. San Pedro Library, 5600 Trumbull at San Pedro. Family Fun.

JULY 10, 7pm. Ch. 5.1 PBS/KNME, The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Learn about the 50 year history of the musicians and their instruments. Repeats July 11, 9pm on ch. 5.4

JULY 10, 3-4:30 pm, free. Summer Afternoon Plant Walk, learn about local desert flora.Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. 7851 2nd St. SW, 248-6667. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/valle-de-oro

JULY 11, 5-8 pm, free. ALBUQUERQUE ARTS CRAWL, Open house at various art galleries around ABQ, meet and visit with artists in person. artscrawlabq.com.

JULY 11, 5-9 pm, free. Albuquerque Downtown Art Walk along Central Avenue between 1st & 8th streets and adjacent streets. Vendors, music, food, arts & crafts. AbqArtwalk.com/eventsmap.

JULY 11, doors open 6pm, program 6:30-8 pm, $12 includes drink ticket. Science on Tap presents “The Fascinating Experience of Nuclear Medicine: Getting Radioactive May save your Life”. Presented by Dr. Mike Hartshorne. Museum of Nuclear Science, 601 Eubank SE. nuclearMuseum.org.

JULY 11-13, special ticket prices. Pueblo Pottery Arts Celebration & Gathering. Includes keynote, demos, fashion show. Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. More info at IndianPueblo.org.

JULY 12, 10:30-11:30 free.  A musical journey around the world with Worldwind Quintet and multi-cultural music. Ernie Pyle Library, 900 Girard SE.

JULY 12, all day, free. National Spanish Spelling Bee. More info at NationalSpanishSpellingBee.com. National Hispanic Cultural Center. More info at nhccnm.org. 1701 4th SW, 724-4771.

JULY 12, 9 am-4pm, FEE.  Level one Beekeeper Class. Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors NW. Contact Nick Bachand, 768-4951 or nbachand@cabq.gov.

JULY 12, 10 am-4pm, $2. Monthly sale by the Friends of the ABQ BernCo Public Library. Main branch, 5th & Copper NW. Carry out to your vehicle. Two hour free parking across the street at the City garage. Bring your ticket in to be stamped. All proceeds benefit the Library. FriendsofthePublicLibrary.org.

JULY 12, 10 am, free. John Taylor speaks on Catholicism in the Rio Abajo: A Historical Travelogue of churches and missions in Central NM. Wheels Museum.

JULY 12, 1-3pm, free. Open House at Casa San Ysidro.  Contact Aaron Gardner, agardner@cabq.gov, 898-3915. 973 Old Church Rd. Casa San Ysidro in Corrales.

JULY 12, 7:30-9:30 am, free but register in advance. Intro to the Outdoors: Learn to Birdwatch, Wildflower Park. 1 mile walk around the park or learn seated.Contact 768-4951 or akbezner@cabq.gov.

JULY 12, 7-8:30 pm, free but register in advance. Sunset Hike in the Bosque. Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors NW. CONTACT Nick Bachand, 768-4951 or nbachand@cabq.gov.

JULY 12/13, 10 am-4pm, free. Native American Portal Artisans Summer Youth (ages 5-17) Show & Sale moves into the courtyard of the NM History Museum, Santa Fe.

JULY 12, doors open 6 pm, event 6:30pm. Back from the Brink, nuclear weapons policy with various speakers. Congregation Nahalat Shalom, 3606 Rio Grande NW. Contact Dennis Bateman,  batemandennis@yahoo.com.

JULY 13, DOORS OPEN 2pm, event 2:30. Free InterFaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test, St. Pius X High School, 5301 St. Joseph’s NW.

JULY 13, 2pm, free. Learn about local history of Italian families and the significance of mushroom hunting to them. Speaker is Dave Menicucci. UNM Castetter Hall, room 55. Sponsored by the NM Mycological Society.

JULY 14, Cochiti Pueblo Feast Day.

JULY 14, 2:30-3:30pm, free. Art Theft  with dog tricks by border collies Joey and Kira as they solve the theft of the Mona Lisa. Cherry Hills Library, 6901 Barstow NE — repeated at Erna Fergusson Library, JULY 16, 1:30-2:30 pm. Part of the Summer Reading Program

JULY 15, 6-7 PM, free. Bookworks. Free speech, book bans, and what you can do. Presented by Kristen Greer Love with the ACLU-NM. 4022 Rio Grande NW. More info at bkwrks.com.

JULY 16, 7pm, free. Albuquerque Concert Band plays outdoors at Balloon Museum, 9201 Balloon Museum Dr. at Alameda.  Bring your own lawn chairs or blanket. You may bring your own food/beverage. 768-6020.

JULY 16, 10am-2pm, free. Job Fair with over 100 employers sponsored by NM Sen. Michael Padilla. Rio Grande HS, 2300 Arenal SW.

JULY 16 Trinity Test Site 80th Remembrance. Various nuclear weapons programs, peace vigils around NM.

JULY 16 Trinity Test Tularosa Downwinders commemoration events: 11 am, dedication of “Downwinders” sign at Stallion Gate on highway 380 east of San Antonio; 6 pm mass @ St. Francis Church in Tularosa followed by dinner reception; 8:30 pm, 16th annual Candlelight Vigil, Tularosa Veterans Park, 901 N. Bookout Rd. Bring your own chairs. More information on trinitydownwinders.com or contact Tina Cordova@ tcordova@queston.net.

JULY 17, 5-8:30pm, free. Third Thursday at the ABQ Museum. 7pm play, “not Lost but Found in Translation”. More information Albuquerque Museum or 311.

JULY 17, 7pm, free. El Norte (1983 rated R) Spanish language movies at National Hispanic Cultural Center.

JULY 18, 10 am-1pm, free but register in advance. Gourd Making class. Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors NW. Contact Nick Bachand, 768-4951 or nbachand@cabq.gov.

JULY 19, 8-11am, free but registration required. Morning Trek, Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors NW. Starts at Visitor Center with van transport to Tingley Beach. Contact Nick Bachand, 768-4951 or nbachand@cabq.gov.

JULY 19, 10am, free. Richard and Shirley Flint speak from their book Overhaul, ABQ’s locomotive shops.  Wheels  Museum, 1100 2nd SW. More detail WheelsMuseum.org, 243-6269.

JULY 19, 5-10 pm, free. Summerfest on Rt. 66 between Girard & Washington. Three different stages with continuous music. Food vendors, arts & crafts. Call 311.

JULY 19/20, Hubbell Rug Show, Petroglyph National Monument Visitor Center. Rug talk at 10am and 2pm by Wallace James Jr., Rug weaving Demo by Tonila Yazzi. 6510 Western Trail NW. 899-0205.

JULY 19,  9:30 am, free. “Bark in the Park” hike at Quarai. Learn etiquette for how to bring pets to Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. More information at nps.gov/sapu/planyourvisit or call 847-2585 X 221.

JULY 20, 2 pm, free.  Albuquerque Historical Society. “Celebrating 70 years of music: 95.5 classical KHFM”. Alexis Corbin will describe the history of ABQ’s first FM station. . Free parking & free admission to the ABQ Museum in Old Town. albuqhistsoc.org.

JULY 22, 10:30-11:30 am, free. Ann Lincoln’s Magic Paintbrush Show: comedy, magic and juggling for all ages. Central Unser Patrick Baca Library, 8081 Central NW.

JULY 25, 7:30-10 pm, free. Dark Skies & Bright Stars at Abo unit of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. Start with a ranger led hike followed by star viewing with telescopes and training how to take dark skies photos. More information at nps.gov/sapu/planyourvisit or call 847-2585 X 221.

JULY 26, 9am, free. Commemoration of Buffalo Soldiers Day, Historic Fairview Cemetery, 700 Yale SE.  Learn the history of these African American Soldiers who served after the Civil War. Enter through the gates of Fairview Memorial Park. www.HistoricFairviewCemeteryABQ.org or Facebook.com/The communityofHistoricFairviewCemetery. “Where the Past meets the Present”.

JULY 26, 11 am, $10. Suzanne Stauffer speaks on the Santa Fe Railroad Reading Rooms and the Harvey Publishing Company.   Wheels Museum, 1100 2nd SW. More details WheelsMuseum.org, 243-6269.

JULY 26, 10am-12 noon, free. How to build a backyard habitat, Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. 7851 2nd St. SW, 248-6667. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/valle-de-oro.

JULY 26, 10 am-5pm, free. National Day of the Cowboy with western music, cowboy poetry, book readings and more. Best Western, 1015 Rio Grande Blvd. NW.Contact secretary@westernmusicnm.com for more details. Food & beverage for sale.

JULY 26, Santa Ana Pueblo Feast Day

JULY 27, 2pm, free. Diana Sherman, director of the Archeology Research Center, speaks on Managing a Collection and repatriation of items to Tribes Martha Liebert Library in Bernalillo, 145 Calle Malinche, 867-1440.Sponsored by the Friends of Coronado and Jemez Historic Sites. More information at CoronadoJemezFriends.org.

JULY 28, Pojoaque Pueblo People’s Day.

JULY 30, 7pm, free. Albuquerque Concert Band plays outdoors at NM Veterans Memorial, 1100 Louisiana SE at Gibson.  Bring your own lawn chairs or blanket. You may bring your own food/beverage.

AUGUST 1, APS TEACHERS RETURN. Students return August 7.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument near Mountainair.  Contact Natalia Sanchez Hernandez for more info. Call 505-847-2585,  nps.gov/sapu/planyourvisit or call 847-2585 X 221.

Randall Davey Audubon Center and sanctuary, 1800 Upper Canyon Rd. in Santa Fe. Tour the gardens and historic Randall Davey house. Fridays @ 2 pm are docent led house tours, $5. Saturdays @8:30 am are guided bird walk. More info at RandallDavey.audubon.org. Monday – Saturday, 8am-4pm.

INDIAN EDUCATION AT UNM, iaie.unm.edu. Watch several previously recorded programs about Native American education, the Dine language and more.

HISTORIC SANTA FE FOUNDATION (historicSantaFe.org) offers many free programs to watch: Ron Duncan Hart speaking on the Early Jews in NM; Rob Martinez – The Enduring Hispanic Music of NM.

The Wheels Museum, 1100 2nd St. SW. Monday -Thursday, 9 am-12 noon, Sat. 12 noon-2pm. Call first to confirm, 243-6269 or info@wheelsmuseum.org

MURALS OF ALBUQUERQUE (www.murosabq.com) This shows over 130 murals in the ABQ metro area. You click on each picture and it shows the mural, gives its title and address, describes the image, and the artists.

Cibola County History Museum, 525 West High St., Grants NM. Go to the museum’s Facebook page for more information.

NUCLEAR MUSEUM – The Museum has a huge collection of oral history interviews (also transcribed) called Voices of the Manhattan Project. There are some 600 interviews of individuals who were either at the Manhattan Project or a family member who worked there. The  interviews are organized into 39 categories such as: Internment of Japanese Americans, Life in the Secret cities,  Hispanic employees, Native American. https://www.nuclearmuseum.org/educate/atomic-heritage-foundation  https://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Historic Fairview Cemetery, 700 Yale SE. invites anyone to come and hoe tumbleweeds and goat heads. The cemetery is open dawn to dusk and accessible through the gates of Fairview Memorial Park. Wear hard soled shoes & bring your own tools. www.HistoricFairviewCemeteryABQ.org or Facebook.com/HistoricFairviewCemetery. “Where the Past meets the Present.

AMAZING HISTORY / CULTURE OPPORTUNITIES ONLINE

Many of the museums and cultural centers in the ABQ metro area have put programming on their websites, Facebook pages or YouTube links. This includes everything from:

  • concerts, history lectures, video tours of various museum collections,
  • photograph pod casts, curriculum and study guides for children, audio interviews,

All of this is free and even “low tech” individuals can navigate these websites. There are YouTube channels available at no cost to watch to all. You are urged to explore many websites but especially these:

  • CORONADO HISTORIC SITE – Watch numerous programs from the website of the Friends of Coronado Historic Site. CoronadoJemezFriends.org/presentations. All info on their website.
  • NEW MEXICO HISTORY IN TEN MINUTES (newmexicohistory.org) On the home page, go to the bottom and click on Video of the Month. The entire list of episodes will appear by clicking on the corner of the video. NM State Historian Rob Martinez is most engaging and informative and there are more than 40 Episodes. The episodes may be heard in chronological order or by topic which is introduced in the first minute or so of the episode.
  • CIVIC AUDITORIUM HISTORY VIDEO (1957-1986) www.modernabq.org. Go to the Resources Tab, then the drop down to the three Civic Auditorium videos. They tell the story of the structure: why it was built, how it was used and why it was ultimately demolished.
  • HOLOCAUST MUSEUM and GELLERT EDUCATION CENTER NM, 616 Central SW. Go to the website nmholocaustmuseum.org. Questions call 247-0606.
  • ALBUQUERQUE OASIS LIFELONG LEARNING PRESENTS VARIOUS NM TOPICS www.albuquerque.oasisnet.org  or 884-4529.

ALBUQUERQUE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ARCHIVED VIDEO PROGRAMS

The Albuquerque Historical Society provides videos of scheduled program presentations. The videos are linked from the appropriate AHS Program pages. Presentations captured on videos to date include: