Special Collections Library

423 Central Ave. NE (corner of Edith and Central
Albuquerque, NM 87102 [locator map]
(505) 848-1376
Email questions to SpecialCollections@cabq.gov

Library Hours:
Tuesday through Saturday- 10 AM -6 PM
Closed on Sundays, Mondays and holidays.

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The Special Collections Library of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System houses research collections on genealogy and New Mexico history and culture. The 1925 Pueblo/Spanish Revival-style building is a registered Albuquerque landmark in the historic Huning-Highlands neighborhood. As a research library, materials are available for in-house use only. Photocopiers are available. Parking is available on Edith and other residential streets, and in the parking garage by Old Albuquerque High School on Arno NE.

What you will find @ Special Collections:

• Exhibits
• Special Events
• Genealogy Collection Highlights
• Genealogical Societies
• New Mexico collection Highlights
• Center for the Book Museum

Exhibits:

Albuquerque: A History in Postcards: View postcards online

 

Exhibit:U.S. Constitution Week Exhibit

September 10 – 26, 2008, Main Reading Room  

The Zia Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution is exhibiting mementos of the revolutionary period, including a collection of hand gathered and molded original glass bottle sculptures commemorating the contributions of American women to our nation’s freedom. September 17th is the 221st anniversary of completion of the Constitution by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

 

 

Exhibit: Art, Politics and Public Works: New Mexico’s New Deal

September 16 through December 6, 2008 

The Special Collections Library celebrates the 75th anniversary of the New Deal with an exhibit of Public Works of Art Project examples presented to the library in 1934.  We also display items documenting Albuquerque public works projects from our Works Progress Administration archive and contemporary 1930s political memorabilia from the Earl W. Grasser papers.

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 20th, 4:00 pm.

"Governor Tingley Talks About the New Deal" 

Hear Dave Jackson as Clyde Tingley boasting of his accomplishments in saving Albuquerque from the Great Depression and creating the public works to assure its bright future. This program is made possible by the New Mexico Humanities Council through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the New Mexico Office of Cultural Affairs.

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Special Events

09/10/2008 - Wednesday  10:30 am – Noon, Botts Hall

"Documentation, the Signature of a Mature Genealogist"
Speaker: Virginia Sullivan

Albuquerque Genealogical Society Meeting

 

 

10/4/2008 -Saturday 10:30 am – Noon, Botts Hall

"Route 66 Corridor Preservation in New Mexico"

Speaker: Michael Romero Taylor, U.S. National Park Service

Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico

 

10/8/2008 -Wednesday 10:30 am – Noon, Botts Hall

"Slavery in Pennsylvania Comes to Life"

Speaker: Ruth Randall, 2007 winner of the National Genealogy Society's Writing Contest Albuquerque Genealogical Society Meeting

 

10/18/2008 -Saturday 10:30 am – Noon, Botts Hall

"New Mexico’s New Deal: A 75th Anniversary Perspective"

Speaker: David Kammer

New Mexico Genealogical Society Meeting

President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal left an indelible mark on New Mexico's public architecture and landscape. Through programs such as the WPA. PWA and CCC, the unemployed obtained work relief and left New Mexico with a legacy that includes courthouses, town halls, community centers, public art and parks. This illustrated talk will explore how the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression affected the state and the New Deal's efforts to stimulate the state's economy through thousands of public works projects that extended to every community in New Mexico. The talk will also focus on New Mexico's New Deal governor, Clyde Tingley, and the ways that the New Deal transformed not only the state's built environment but the role of state government as well. In recognizing the 75th Anniversary of the New Deal, the talk will offer an array of examples showing how these public works projects remain a part of our state's heritage.This program is made possible by the New Mexico Humanities Council through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the New Mexico Office of Cultural Affairs.

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1. Genealogy Collection Highlights

Home to New Mexico's largest genealogical collection, Special Collections has nearly 22,000 genealogy books, over 16,000 microforms, approximately 2,500 compact discs and almost 300 current periodical titles. The collection is particularly strong in New Mexico genealogy, but the library also holds substantial records and resources from other states. The Library has immigration and ships' passenger lists, the Periodical Resource Index (PERSI), and a large assortment of family genealogies. Donations of individual family histories are welcomed.

Lineage books from the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of Founders and Patriots, Daughters of American Colonists, the Mayflower Society, and other major resources from the American Colonial and Revolutionary War periods are available.

Federal census records for the entire United States from 1790 through 1930 are available. There are partial censuses for New Mexico from the Spanish and Mexican periods and special censuses for Native Americans of the Southwest, including the Dawes Rolls from Oklahoma.  

Several computers are available for public use. Two library computer terminals provide Internet access using the Library System's SmartCard. Four dedicated genealogy computers feature CD-ROM databases of census records and other valuable resources.  Local volunteers have compiled databases such as indexed vital records in Albuquerque newspapers, 1888-1896; indexed obituaries from the Albuquerque Journal for most years from 1908 to the present, scanned texts of Albuquerque Journal obituaries from 1930 to the present; the New Mexico Death Index from 1899-1945, and a partial statewide cemetery index.

Three important genealogy databases are available only at Special Collections Library with your Library SmartCard: Ancestry Library Edition, Heritage Quest Online and Origins Network Database.

The Library has a comprehensive collection on New Mexico genealogy, including the Spanish Archives of New Mexico, the Mexican Archives of New Mexico, Land Grant Records, and the Territorial Archives on microfilm. Civil War pension records for New Mexico and county records for the Territorial period are also available.  All publications of the New Mexico Genealogical Society are owned, as are the works of Fray Angelico Chavez. The Dreesen files provide information on the original settlers of the Rio Abajo prior to 1900. There are newspapers from the Territorial period, and Albuquerque city directories dating back to the 1880s. A collection of 16th century Spanish passenger lists, Pasajeros a las Indias, is available on microfilm.

The library has a complete collection of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. These records extend as far back as 1678 and as recent as 1956 for some areas. Localresearchers have extracted many of these records and published them in book format.

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New Mexico Collection Highlights

The New Mexico Collection features nine thousand books on New Mexico history and culture, with an emphasis on the Albuquerque area. Supplementary resources include over 200 regional periodicals (current and defunct), a complete set of topographical maps for the state, other historic maps, City of Albuquerque documents, pamphlets, postcards, and biographical information. Special files include archival materials on Ernie Pyle and Professor Dorothy Cline, and a centennial history of the Albuquerque Public Library. Periodic exhibits feature local history materials from our collection and from other sources.

Center for the Book Museum

Special Collections also houses the Center for the Book, a hands-on museum of the history of books, writing and printing. It features working replicas of early printing presses, late-Nineteenth and early-Twentieth Century presses and examples of ancient and modern books, including clay tablets, papyrus, miniature books and illuminated manuscripts. For information about tours, call 848-1376.