The Silver City Museum is unveiling “Unpacking Silver,” a special series of seven history presentations and discussions taking place on Saturday mornings from June to August. The public can learn more and register to attend at www.silvercitymuseum.org.  The Silver City Museum is unveiling Unpacking Silver, a special series of seven presentations and discussions taking place on Saturday mornings from June to August. Each talk will focus on a theme from Southwest New Mexican history, from its pre-colonial origins through the development of Silver City as a modern American town. Community conversation is a primary goal of Upacking Silver. Each presentation will be followed by an open discussion where audience members are invited to ask questions, bring viewpoints and suggest ways to expand the project.

You can learn more about individual talks and presenters and register to attend at www.silvercitymuseum.org. 

With the support of the New Mexico Humanities Council, this series was conceived by a committee of accomplished local historians who laid out a sweeping framework for exploring the history of our area. These seven humanities themes address and bring together a variety of topics:

Federal Expansion and The Role of Government, will examine issues including voting rights, the Silver City Municipal Territorial Charter, historical U.S. expansion, politics, and military history. 

• June 5, 11am, presented by Dr. Doug Dinwiddie of the Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Tzi9B4_tT16ZRv-uhrHMRg; Meeting ID 890 2671 4772 

The West in Pop Culture and how it influences tourism, community pride, historical confusion or understanding. Presentation will focus on Billy the Kid, notorious outlaw who grew up in Silver City, pursued a criminal career throughout southern New Mexico and Arizona, and was captured in Mesilla.

• June 12, 11am, presented by Jim Smith noted history teacher, author and lecturer: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XhJdr6tFTh6YhGrqVgeBSQ; Meeting ID 863 5555 4011

Community Building: The unique convergence of influences that destined a long future for Silver City and the town’s evolution as a colorful, distinctive, resilient entity over its first 150 years.

• June 26, 11am, presented by Susan Berry, author and retired Director of the Silver City Museum: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mpJIp3S7Tla3GqLfYDT2OQ; Zoom Meeting ID 880 0085 5169

The Economy: Examining what sustains and changes a community’s wealth including changes caused by shifts in technologies, labor/management tensions, market demands and influences from government, environmental concerns, and culture.

• July 10, 11am, Dr. Scott Fritz, Professor of History at WNMU; https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Xut-GcY6S76WCMFaXA5cZA; Zoom Meeting ID 882 5456 6587

Sustaining and Changing Cultural Identities among various ethnic and cultural groups and how identities shift and sometime conflict and meld with others. Presentation will be specifically on Silver City’s early boomtown era and what was revealed about its participants by the 1880’s census.

• July 24, 11am, presented by researcher and lifelong Silver Citian Tom Hester: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Uq4Ke5JVQfWa34XnalAWIw; Zoom Meeting ID 836 2951 3551

Health and Medicine This presentation will focus on the hospitals and available healthcare options starting in the 1880s and going up to the creation of Hillcrest Hospital in 1937.  It will also cover some of the social history and the types of diseases people experienced during that time.

• August 7, 11am, presented by Heather Moorland, historian and local history researcher https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gejajotXT3O9X4toGEh3lw; Zoom Meeting ID 880 6947 0245

The Land and the Environment and the often-conflicting tensions among preservation, conservation and use.

• August 28, 11am, presented by author and historian Dr. Stephen Fox; https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FKitijXdTqmH9MufWdjHJg; Zoom Meeting Id 846 2767 1024

Presentations will be 30-45 minutes, at which point the audience will be invited to participate in a moderated discussion on the topic by asking questions and sharing their own views, concerns, suggestions for the project and information with the speakers and the audience.  

Information gathered in this series, including public discussion, will go on to have an even more exciting afterlife as part of the Silver City Museum’s upcoming exhibit Silver City 101. This ambitious exhibit will do just what the name implies, giving residents and guests alike a primer on Silver City history. The exhibit, now still in planning phases, will involve both physical objects and photos as well a multimedia and built environments within the museum, with a large portion being available online as well. Silver City 101 will become a lasting exhibit at the museum and serve as a starting point for all to learn about our region’s history and culture.

The Silver City Museum creates opportunities for residents and visitors to explore, understand, and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of southwestern New Mexico by collecting, preserving, researching, and interpreting the region's unique history. It is nationally recognized through its accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.

For more information, please contact the museum at (575) 538-5921 education@silvercitymuseum.org, or visit the museum's website: www.silvercitymuseum.org