An open letter to Carlos Cisneros

Dear Relatives, Friends and Lovers of NM History and Culture:

I wish to request your help in “moving the action” for the film documentary about Padre Martinez (1793-1867).

Attached is a PRESS RELEASE about a film documentary that both Senator Carlos Cisneros and Representative Roberto “Bobby” Gonzales have proposed to each House of the NM legislature. It will provide funding for a film documentary on Padre Martinez tentatively entitled THE DAWNING OF LIBERTY. Voting will take place soon. For more information on me, and the film project, please check http:www.thetaosconnection.com

Paul Espinosa of Espinosa Productions , has done preliminary work on the film, but much more is needed for a high quality production.

I would appreciate it very much if you would please write a letter (email) to Senator Cisneros as soon as possible with a copy to Representative Roberto “Bobby” Gonzles. Thank them both, and let them know that you support what they are doing, and that you are interested in the progress of this project.

Sincerely yours,
Fr. Juan
Rev. Juan Romero, Vice President
La Fundación Presbítero Don Antonio José Martínez

P.S. Here is a DRAFT that you may edit in any way to suit you.

LETTER TO: carlos.cisneros@nmlegis.gov
COPY TO: roberto.gonzales@nmlegis.gov

Dear Senator Cisneros:

I wish to advise you of my support and gratitude to you and Representative Gonzales for proposing funding for the Padre Martinez film documentary through your respective bills (SB 266 and HB 370). I am convinced the film will greatly help every child and many adults in NM and beyond more deeply appreciate the history and culture of our Land of Enchantment.

Yours truly,

[Name/Signature]

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Rearranging the furniture

The Web site for Padre Martinez Cura de Taos, padremartinez.org, has undergone a serious and early spring cleaning. Our new Web master, Melody Romancito, is making a few changes to the navigational links, and bringing all those item which belong under “news and events” to be listed here.

We’re hopeful you’ll like the new format. Any changes or suggestions should be brought to our attention by leaving a comment here.

Thank you for you patience as we rearrange the furniture a little.

ORDER RELUCTANT DAWN: NEW SECOND EDITION AVAILABLE

A new edition of RELUCTANT DAWN, a biography of Padre Antonio José Martinez first written thirty years ago by Rev. Juan Romero, is available. To order this second edition by mail, please send your check for $22 (includes shipping) to the following address:

THE TAOS CONNECTION
4741 East Palm Canyon Dr. C-135
Palm Springs, CA 92264

The monograph is primarily based on the never-before-published manuscript BIOGRAFIA DEL PRESBITERO ANTONIO JOSE MARTINEZ written by Santiago Valdez in 1877 and that is housed at the Huntington Library near Los Angeles.  It also includes other primary resources, including data from the archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, State of NM, Vatican Archives, and Notre Dame University.

Manifest Destinies

The Making of the Mexican American Race
288 p. / Hardcover $35.00
NYU Press, 838 Broadway, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10003-4812

In both the historic record and the popular imagination, the story of nineteenth-century westward expansion in America has been characterized by notions of annexation rather than colonialism, of opening rather than conquering, and of settling unpopulated lands rather than displacing existing populations.

Using the territory that is now New Mexico as a case study, Manifest Destinies traces the origins of Mexican Americans as a racial group in the United States, paying particular attention to shifting meanings of race and law in the nineteenth century.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

ATTENTION: ARTISTS, HISTORIANS, EDITORS, WRITERS, TRANSLATORS, and COMPUTER TECHS. padremartinez.org is a self-sustaining web site and is published with the help of volunteers and through contributions. If you have any of the talents or resources requested please contact me at: vmmtz@mac.com

NEW ON THE WEB SITE

Reburial of Padre Martinez

Padre Martínez died on July 27, 1867. According to burial records he was buried in his oratorio as he requested in his last will and testament. The burial ceremony held on July 29, 1867 was officiated by Mariano de Jesús Lucero, his student, friend, and fellow excommunicated priest from Arroyo Hondo. For many years, historians and Padre Martínez scholars have wondered about how the remains of Padre Martínez ended up at the Kit Carson Cemetery. The details of the reburial were reported in the June 25, 1891 edition of El Monitor, an early Taos newspaper, which has recently come to light thanks to Fr. Tom Steele, S.J. Read more….

The Progeny of Padre Martinez of Taos, Part 1

Progeny has always been a controversial issue with respect to Padre Martínez because of the moral issues it raises with regard to the priesthood and vows of celibacy. The issue of progeny was first discussed publicly by Dora Ortiz y Vásquez in her memoir, Enchanted Temples of Taos (1975), with regard to her grandfather, George Antonio Romero, the first-born son of María Teodora Romero and Padre Martínez. In his comprehensive and well documented biography of Padre Martínez, BUT TIME AND CHANCE:The Story of Padre Martínez of Taos, 1793-1867, (1981) Fray Angelico Chávez, researched the baptismal registries of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, and began the process of identifying the progeny of Padre Martinez and addressed some of the moral and religious implications. Based on these initial studies, Vicente M. Martínez, in an article, The Progeny of Padre Martínez, published in the New Mexico Genealogist Journal (June 2007) further scrutinized and expanded the data presented by both Vásquez and Chávez, and made some interesting discoveries. Read more…

Postscript to The Progeny of Padre Martinez of Taos, Part 2

Postscript to the Progeny examines new data on the identity of Santiago Valdez the putative son of Padre Martínez refuting the theory proposed by Fray Chávez in
BUT TIME AND CHANCE. Read more…

FILM DOCUMENTARY

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PADRE MARTINEZ is a new film documentary being produced by ESPINOSA PRODUCTIONS. Paul Espinosa is an award-winning independent filmmaker who uses the power of media to tell stories about unsung heroes whose lives inspire us. Two of his works widely viewed on PBS-TV include THE BORDER, a two-hour news magazine about contemporary life along the border, and also THE U.S.-MEXICAN WAR: 1846-1848.  Espinosa Productions has applied to various funding sources for grants to finance the documentary, but the main source for funding the project will be from private individuals like us.  WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO MAKE THIS FILM!  FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO CONTRIBUTE  GO TO: http://www.espinosaproductions.com/development/padre.html

Other events during the dedication

Corina Santistevan and the Taos County Historical Society of Taos presented A SERIES OF IMAGES of Padre Martinez at the Taos Court House. The images included the 1938 woodcut by the late Helen Blumenshein, the Leroy Martinez drawing of 2004, a painting of the Padre that the Catholic Extension Society based in Chicago commissioned to be “poster boy” for its February 1976 calendar, and the Reluctant Dawn cover painting by the late Cynthia Bissell–a Taos artist.

Newspaper excerpts

From EL TEMPO, Arts & Entertainment Magazine of the Taos News, July 13-19, 2006

“As an artist, my objective is to…communicate ideas of visual content that will result in an emotional response from those who view it… Art of this kind can heal, challenge and stimulate us to define our spiritual voice.”–Huberto Maestas, Sculptor

Memorial history

MEMORIAL TO HONOR PADRE MARTINEZ 13 YEARS IN THE MAKING

Sometime, in the 1980’s the Rev. Juan Romero mused to Moises Sandoval, the editor of his book RELUCTANT DAWN, and professional editor of Maryknoll Magazine-Revista Maryknoll that Padre Martínez deserved a memorial. In the early 90´s Sandoval sent Romero an issue of Maryknoll with the works of San Luis, Colorado sculptor Huberto Maestas featured on the cover. Romero then put this idea in the form of a written proposal and sent it to Taos historian Corina Santistevan and museum curator , a descendant of Padre Martínez and heir to the historic home in Taos, with suggestions on how funds might be raised for such an endeavor. Given the estimated cost of the memorial at $100,000, it was deemed unfeasible at the time and was tabled. In 2001, at a meeting in the Padre Martínez Home attended by Vicente Martínez, his son Antonio, and Corina Santistevan, the idea was revisited. Vicente suggested that Romero contact Senator Carlos Cisneros to see if the memorial could be funded by the state legislature.