The Las Cruces Museum of Natural History lecture - The Coming of the Civil War in New Mexico

The Las Cruces Museum of Natural History is hosting our monthly lecture series, Descubra el Desierto, on Tuesday, December 16, 2008, at 7pm. The lecture will be held at the Las Cruces Museum of Natural History at the Mesilla Valley Mall. Our December topic is The Coming of the Civil War in New Mexico presented by Dr.Dwight Pitcaithley of the NMSU History Department.

In a little over two years, this nation will begin a four-year-long commemoration of the American Civil War. Few who participate in the activities of that event will pause to consider the importance of New Mexico’s central role in the coming of the war or be aware that the New Mexico Territory was at the center of the Republican Party’s platform, and that intra-party differences regarding the management of the territory split the Democratic Party in 1860. Historian Dwight T. Pitcaithley will discuss how the fateful election of 1860 turned not upon the abolition of slavery in the states, but on the future of the slavery in the New Mexico Territory.

Dwight T. Pitcaithley is a Professor of History at New Mexico State University. He retired from the National Park Service in 2005 as Chief Historian, a position he held from 1995 until 2005. His research interests include Public History, Historic Interpretation, Civil War & the Western United States.

If you need an accommodation for a disability to enable you to fully participate in this event please contact the museum 48 hours before the event at 522-3120.

For more program information: Museum of Natural History (575) 522-3120