The Northern New Mexico Genealogical Group was officially formed on November 14, 1998 with its first meeting held at the New Mexico Records Center and Archives. Months of planning, and possibly years of requests to have the Records Center and Archives open on a Saturday, have brought about the newest genealogical group in New Mexico.

The Northern New Mexico Genealogical Group is not a formal society, thus no fees for membership are required. The only criteria for participation in this group is membership in one of the following: The New Mexico Genealogical Society (NMGS), th Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico (HGRC), the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America, the Olimaba López Tushar Hispanic Legacy Research Center (OLTHLRC), the National Society of Hispanic Genealogy (NSHG), and/or the Friends of the Archives. The group simply meets on the second Saturday of each month (10:00am - 2:00pm) to conduct genealogical research, and share and assist each other in uncovering family roots and histories.

Recently, the New Mexico Records Center and Archives Sponsored a beginning genealogy workshop that was attended by 70 people. The workshop was facilitated by José Antonio Esquibel, and some of the participants remained afterward to use the resource materials available in the research room and received assistance from other members of the Northern New Mexico Genealogy Group.

Upcoming meetings are scheduled for these dates:

April 8, 2000

May 13, 2000

June 10, 2000

July 8, 2000

August 12, 2000

At this time, due to limited staff coverage, entrance into the main facility (located at 1205 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe), will be limited to the following times:

People can exit the facility at any time, and are welcome to bring their own lunch, which can be eaten in the foyer. Lockers are available for storing personal affects.

If you are a resident of northern New Mexico and are interested in researching your family genealogy and history, you are welcome to join the group by attending any meeting on the second Sunday of any given month. If you are not already a member of one of the four groups mentioned above, there will be membership registration forms available at the meetings.

If you reside outside of New Mexico, are a member of any of the groups mentioned above, and plan to be in Santa Fe around the second Saturday of any month, you are welcome to utilize the Records Center and Archives for your family research. Also, please encourage any of your New Mexico relatives to join the group and take advantage of weekend access to a great many useful resources.

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A special thanks goes to Elaine Olah, State Records Administrator, Sandra Jaramillo, Director of Archives and Historical Services, and Charles Martnez y Vigil, Administrative Secretary, for their support and advocacy in the formation of the genealogy group and allowing the Records Center and Archives to be open one Saturday a month.

The impetus to organize this genealogical group came from the coordinating committee members of the Cuarto Centennial Genealogical Conference (held at Glorieta, NM, in June 1998), and the interest of residents of northern New Mexico.

The intent of opening the Records Center and Archives on a weekend day is to encourage genealogical research and networking for people, mainly from northern New Mexico, who are actively researching their family genealogy and history, and who are members of at least one of these groups:

The three genealogical groups offer quarterly journals, web pages, monthly meetings, and other valuable resources for New Mexico genealogical research. The Friends of the Archives is a group of people who support the raising of additional funds for the Records Center and Archives either by their own donations of any amount or by working with staff on fundraising. The money raised is intended to purchase additional resources, in particular publications and microfilm, to assist researchers. According the data from the Records Center and Archives, the facility is used mostly by people conducting genealogical research.

The Northern New Mexico Genealogical Group offers the opportunity to utilize valuable records outside of the usual weekday hours, to network with other people who or conducting New Mexico genealogical research, to share research with others, and assist or receive assistance on those challenging family lines. At least one staff member from the Records Center and Archives will be present, along with a couple of volunteers, to assist researchers in locating and understanding the type of records that are available. Published sources that are currently on bookshelves within the rooms of Records Center and Archives and microfilm records will be available for use. There will be access to the catalogue for the special collections, but limited staff coverage will not allow for retrieval of these records from the vault.

Again, gratitude is extended to the staff and administration of the New Mexico Records Center and Archives for allowing access to the valuable genealogical and historical records that are a treasure for conducting family history research.