SALON EL ZAGUÁN

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QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SALON OR ISSUES REGISTERING? - Contact: Hanna Churchwell at hanna@historicsantafe.org or call 505.983.2567 for more information.

WANT TO BECOME A MEMBER - Find out more about membership or become a member of Historic Santa Fe Foundation, visit the Join & Give page or , email Giulia Caporuscio at giulia@historicsantafe.org, or call 505-983-2567.

Historic Santa Fe Foundation is excited to announce a salon talk featuring archaeologist Dr. Alysia L. Abbott, focusing on Our Lady of Guadalupe Cemetery, scheduled for 3 PM on December 19, 2024, at El Zaguán, located at 545 Canyon Rd.

ABOUT THE SALON

Our Lady of Guadalupe was the smallest of the Catholic Cemeteries active in Santa Fe in the last half of the 19th century.  In 1886 the cemetery was consecrated as a Parish Cemetery for Our Lady of Guadalupe Church but was probably in use as a burial ground even as early as the 1860s. 

The land for Our Lady of Guadalupe Cemetery on Early Street was deeded to then Bishop Lamy in 1873 by the Lujan Family, related to Don Diego de Vargas. The property was ideal for a cemetery, a lovely spot as the locals described it.

“EL ALTO DE BUENA VISTA”  

Alongside Rosario Cemetery and the expansive Old San Miguel Cemetery, the Dead of which now lay underneath the PERA parking lot, the Our Lady of Guadalupe Cemetery was in service for many of the Catholic faithful of Santa Fe for generations.  However, what is now Our Lady of Guadalupe Cemetery is all that remains of what was a much larger community cemetery that received the Dead of many faiths and backgrounds, including prisoners who died in the Territorial Penitentiary. 

No longer receiving the Dead, but still sacred ground to the families of the Dead buried there, the Our Lady of Guadalupe Cemetery is threatened by continued encroachment and is succumbing to the disastrous effects of development and climate change.  Come hear about the history of the cemetery, the lives and deaths of the people buried there, and the efforts to protect them and their place as part of the history of Santa Fe.  

Please register in advance. Free for HSFF members. $10 per person for non-members.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr. Alysia L. Abbott is an archaeologist who has been researching the known and lost cemeteries and graveyards of Santa Fe for a decade. She has been documenting the monuments and researching the history of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery in Santa Fe intensively since 2014. Most recently, Dr. Abbott directed the recovery excavations of graves from the Old Masons and Odd Fellows Cemetery, exposed by the La Secoya de El Castillo development in 2021. A summary of Dr. Abbott’s research on Santa Fe Cemeteries, “A Hidden History of the Dead” was published in El Palacio in the fall of 2021. Dr. Abbott holds degrees in Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Texas and the University of New Mexico. She and her husband archaeologist David Eck live in Santa Fe.

PARKING

Parking on Canyon Road, Camino Escondido, and Delgado Streets as available. Paid lots are located on Delgado Street and on Canyon Road across from El Farol.

CHECK-IN

Check-in starts at 9:40 am. HSFF staff or a volunteer will check you in by asking for your name. Come early or stay late to view our history and art exhibitions.

Contact: Hanna Churchwell at hanna@historicsantafe.org or call 505.983.2567 for more information.