New Mexico History Museum | New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

New Mexico History Museum

On the Historic Santa Fe Plaza

Visitors view "Fragments" by Kumi Yamashita. Photo by Kitty Leaken.

New Mexico History Museum is a statewide educational resource, local landmark, and destination for anyone seeking to understand the diverse experiences of the people of New Mexico. The museum is a connecting point for all communities, telling the stories that made the American West, from the early lives of Native peoples to Spanish colonists, the Mexican era, Santa Fe Trail merchants, the railroad, cowboys, outlaws, and scientists.

New Mexico History Museum encompasses an incredible campus including the Palace of the Governors, the Palace Print Shop & Bindery, the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library and Photo Archives, and the Native American Artisans Portal Program. 

New Mexico History Museum is your resource for exhibitions, research, education, historic objects and documents, special lectures, and special events. 

 

he New Mexico History Museum (http://www.nmhistorymuseum.org) aims to engage visitors in the craft of history. Within a theatrical environment, this newest museum in New Mexico, which opened May 24, 2009, offers the powerful stories of the many cultures that have called the Land of Enchantment home. Sometimes those cultures blended. Sometimes they clashed. Always, they added new stitches to a tapestry of life that’s among the oldest in the nation.

The museum includes interactive multimedia displays, hands-on exhibits, and vivid stories of real New Mexicans. As a 96,000-square-foot extension of the Palace of the Governors – itself a story of New Mexico’s past and present in a 400-year-old building – the New Mexico History Museum anchors itself in the historic Santa Fe Plaza.

With stories from and about New Mexicans like PoPay, Juan de Oñate, Kit Carson, Billy the Kid, Adolph Bandelier, Ernest Blumenschein, Robert Oppenheimer, and the ’60s-era counterculture, the New Mexico History Museum sweeps through centuries of human interaction. The second-floor Albert and Ethel Herzstein Gallery offers changing exhibits.

The Palace focuses on the history that its walls have seen over the centuries, and includes a chance for visitors to interact with Native American artisans, who display and sell their wares under its Portal, continuing a centuries-long tradition. Other parts of the museum campus include the Print Shop and Bindery, a working exhibit of antique printing presses, and the renowned Fray Angélico Chávez History Library and Photographic Archives, which are open during the week for research purposes.

- See more at: http://new.newmexicoculture.org/location/new-mexico-history-museum/#sthash.9I261xDj.dpuf

Buy Tickets Online

On exhibit at the New Mexico History Museum

New Mexico CulturePass

Your ticket to New Mexico's exceptional Museums and Historic Sites.
From Indian treasures to space exploration, world-class folk art to awesome dinosaurs—our museums and monuments celebrate the essence of New Mexico every day.
More Info »

The wallet size version of the CulturePass showing the $30 price
An animated image of a cell phone showing various topics presented in the Encounter Culture podcast

Encounter Culture

Take a look inside the museums and historic sites of New Mexico without leaving home. Join host Charlotte Jusinski, and a variety of guest curators, artists, and exhibitors in exploring the art and culture of the state in Encounter Culture, a new podcast from the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

Logo and Link to Google Podcasts Logo and Link to Apple Podcasts Logo and Link to Spotify Podcasts

Featured DCA Exhibitions

A photo featuring items representing the Silver and Stones: Collaborations in Southwest Jewelry exhibition

Silver and Stones: Collaborations in Southwest Jewelry

Currently on display in the New Mexico History Museum’s Palace of the Governors, is an unusual jewelry collection
more »

A photo featuring items representing the Setting the Standard: The Fred Harvey Company and Its Legacy exhibition

Setting the Standard: The Fred Harvey Company and Its Legacy

Setting the Standard: The Fred Harvey Company and Its Legacy, in the New Mexico History Museum’s main exhibit,
more »

A photo featuring items representing the Icons of Exploration exhibition

Icons of Exploration

Showcases some of the Museum’s most celebrated objects including a real "moon rock," rare replicas of the first
more »

A photo featuring items representing the Segesser Hide Paintings exhibition

Segesser Hide Paintings

Though the source of the Segesser Hide Paintings is obscure, their significance cannot be clearer: the hides are rare
more »