Growth:

2010 is the 50th year of the New Mexico Genealogical Society, with steady increase in membership after we were "discovered" at our 40th anniversary, and our publications by NMGS Press became known for their exceptional accuracy. Following Robert E. Esterly's initial publication of a comprehensive resource book titled "Genealogical Research in New Mexico," Karen Stein Daniel has continued to reproduce the book each year, and it has grown larger and more valuable each year. The book is free to new members.

In 1998, our web site was launched by Pat Esterly, and quickly followed with the online project, "Locating Catholic Church Records in New Mexico," a three-person collaboration with Armando Sandoval and Angela Lewis.

In 2006 the Society helped to commemorate the 300th birthday of Albuquerque by researching and publishing the genealogy of the city's founding families. The immense project, spear-headed by Gloria Valencia y Valdez, has earned additional honors for the Society.

In 2010 we are celebrating our Golden Anniversary -- 50 years of continuous service to the genealogical community. Watch for the exciting plans being made for that celebration.

The New Mexico Genealogist, our quarterly journal, was awarded the 2005 Lansing B. Bloom Award from the Historical Society of New Mexico. Editor Karen Stein Daniel, CGSM, along with past editors and article contributors, has earned hearty congratulations for an excellent publication. Ms. Daniel was editor of the New Mexico Genealogist from 2000 to March 2006. The award reads "for Outstanding Publication or Series of Publications by a Society or Institution," and is signed by HSNM President Rick Hendricks.

Church Project Honored: Our project "Locating Catholic Church Records in New Mexico" was named by Family Tree magazine as one of only two web sites in New Mexico in their list of "state-centered online genealogy tools which rise above the rest." and also among the "best free cyberstops for researching ancestors."The second New Mexico web site chosen was the New Mexico Death Index. The article in Family Tree magazine of December 2005 article was titled "States of Excellence" and stated their goal as follows: "We've gone all over the map surveying sites of state archives, libraries and historical societies; public libraries; genealogical societies and independent researchers. This state-by-state roundup singles out online destinations most likely to advance your ancestor search, plus tips for using the sites-and they're all free."

The volunteers below received awards of merit from the Federation of Genealogical Societies, acknowledging their service to genealogy Margaret Leonard Windham, 2003 Volunteer of the Year In the first year of the Federation of Genealogical Societies' Ruth C. Bishop Volunteer Award, the New Mexico Genealogical Society honored Margaret Leonard Windham as our nominee. A member of NMGS since 1966, Margaret Windham served as Society President, editor of the New Mexico Genealogist, and oversaw the publication of over thirty books of sacramental and census records for the NMGS Press. A Certified Genealogist from 1988 to 1992, Margaret was a long-time member of the New Mexico Genealogical Society as well as the National Genealogical Society. Before moving to New Mexico 48 years ago, she taught in the Texas and Colorado public schools. Margaret died on March 29, 2010, in Albuquerque NM, preceded in death by her husband, Robert (Tex) Windham. Services were held at French Mortuary in Albuquerque NM April 3, 2010 with interment April 5 at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe, NM.   2004 Volunteer of the Year: Evelyn Lujan Baca In the second year of the Federation of Genealogical Society's Ruth C. Bishop Volunteer Award, the New Mexico Genealogical Society chose Evelyn Lujan Baca for the honor. Deep within the project of bringing the many records of the Santa Fe Archdiocese to publication, and as they continue to be systematically transcribed, typed, and published, an important responsibility was taken up by Evelyn Baca. Evelyn, a retired public school teacher, painstakingly double checks each entry at every stage before the book is released. She double-checks the entries from microfilm and, whenever necessary, from the original documents. The NMGS started publishing with 225 steno-notebooks of hand-copied AASF record transcriptions. Working steadily , we are currently down to 87 steno books and have published over 30 books of AASF birth and marriage church records, in addition to books of censuses and cemetery records.