Visible, Vital, Valuable A new exhibition at the New Mexico
History Museum illuminates the legacy of African-American
communities in our state. The show focuses on three areas:
Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Blackdom—an all-black settlement
near Roswell, formed around 1901. The Federal Homestead Act of
1862 caused more than 100,000 Southern African-Americans to move
West to claim land and settle. Learn about immigration, family
life, religion and the fight against segregation through the
life stories of some fascinating individuals, such as Clara
Belle Drisdale Williams—the first African-American to graduate
from New Mexico State University.