Andrés Armijo's New Book, Por Constancia/So that it may be Validated: Family History in the Río Abajo
This past December, I had the pleasure of reading and writing a review for an exciting new book by Andrés Armijo titled "Por Constancia/So that it may be Validated: Family History in the Río Abajo" (Los Ranchos: LPD Press, 2014, 190 pages and 153 photos; nmsantos.com).
For anyone interested in learning how to utilize various family records and media sources from the late 1800s and the 1900s for documenting family history, I highly recommend this book.
For anyone interested in better understanding the development and expression of Nuevomejicano culture in the century and a half following New Mexico’s inclusion as part of the United States (1846-2000), this book offers many insights through the various generations of the family of Andrés Armijo.
Read what others have to say about the book at http://highnoonarmijo.blogspot.com.
Book signings are scheduled for:
Saturday, May 10, 2014, National Hispanic Cultural Center, Salon Ortega, 2-4pm, 1701 4th St. SW, Albuquerque, NM
Saturday, June 7, 2014 Treasure House Books, 1-3pm, 2012 S Plaza, Albuquerque, NM
Here is my review that appears as the Introduction in the book—
Place is not only defined by geography and landscape. A sense of place emerges and is sustained from the experiences of people and their relationship with each another as family and community in contact with landscape.
The connection of landscape and family is particularly compelling and personal for Nuevomejicanos whose family roots reach back in time many centuries. This is evident in the narrative of Andrés Armijo’s "Por Constancia/So that it may be Validated: Family History in the Río Abajo" and in his motivation to research and write the book.
Armijo skillfully combines family history, sense of place, and cultural expressions with historical documents, personal stories, written words and audio recordings of relatives, photographs, and historical context to illustrate a vibrant pattern of cultural development and expression of the people of New Mexico’s Hispano Río Abajo.
Covering a period of time from the mid-1800s through the twentieth century, each chapter illustrates that people are vessels of culture, transmitting the expression of customs and traditions from one generation to the next. This period offers different forms of historical documentation that were not available prior to 1850, which Armijo highlights with sources from his own extended family.
"Por Constancia/So that it may be Validated: Family History in the Río Abajo" is an exceptional guide for those who want to better understand Nuevomejicano culture and how to document their own family history. Andrés Armijo offers valuable examples and instructions for documenting and recording family history, emphasizing the use of written, photographic, audio, and video sources from the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century.
Armijo provides insights into the value of these forms of documented family history, which contain any combination of expressions of language, religion, folklore, local history, and the threads of long-standing customs and traditions.
The noted humanist geographer, Yi-Fu Tuan, who once lived and taught in New Mexico, wrote that “A town or neighborhood comes alive through the artistry of a scholar who is able to combine detailed narrative with discerning vignettes of description, further enriched by old photographs and sketches” (Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, 1977). In this regard, Andrés Armijo succeeds in the scholarly artistry of "Por Constancia/So that it may be Validated: Family History of the Río Abajo."
For anyone interested in learning how to utilize various family records and media sources from the late 1800s and the 1900s for documenting family history, I highly recommend this book.
For anyone interested in better understanding the development and expression of Nuevomejicano culture in the century and a half following New Mexico’s inclusion as part of the United States (1846-2000), this book offers many insights through the various generations of the family of Andrés Armijo.
Read what others have to say about the book at http://highnoonarmijo.blogspot.com.
Book signings are scheduled for:
Saturday, May 10, 2014, National Hispanic Cultural Center, Salon Ortega, 2-4pm, 1701 4th St. SW, Albuquerque, NM
Saturday, June 7, 2014 Treasure House Books, 1-3pm, 2012 S Plaza, Albuquerque, NM
Here is my review that appears as the Introduction in the book—
Place is not only defined by geography and landscape. A sense of place emerges and is sustained from the experiences of people and their relationship with each another as family and community in contact with landscape.
The connection of landscape and family is particularly compelling and personal for Nuevomejicanos whose family roots reach back in time many centuries. This is evident in the narrative of Andrés Armijo’s "Por Constancia/So that it may be Validated: Family History in the Río Abajo" and in his motivation to research and write the book.
Armijo skillfully combines family history, sense of place, and cultural expressions with historical documents, personal stories, written words and audio recordings of relatives, photographs, and historical context to illustrate a vibrant pattern of cultural development and expression of the people of New Mexico’s Hispano Río Abajo.
Covering a period of time from the mid-1800s through the twentieth century, each chapter illustrates that people are vessels of culture, transmitting the expression of customs and traditions from one generation to the next. This period offers different forms of historical documentation that were not available prior to 1850, which Armijo highlights with sources from his own extended family.
"Por Constancia/So that it may be Validated: Family History in the Río Abajo" is an exceptional guide for those who want to better understand Nuevomejicano culture and how to document their own family history. Andrés Armijo offers valuable examples and instructions for documenting and recording family history, emphasizing the use of written, photographic, audio, and video sources from the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century.
Armijo provides insights into the value of these forms of documented family history, which contain any combination of expressions of language, religion, folklore, local history, and the threads of long-standing customs and traditions.
The noted humanist geographer, Yi-Fu Tuan, who once lived and taught in New Mexico, wrote that “A town or neighborhood comes alive through the artistry of a scholar who is able to combine detailed narrative with discerning vignettes of description, further enriched by old photographs and sketches” (Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, 1977). In this regard, Andrés Armijo succeeds in the scholarly artistry of "Por Constancia/So that it may be Validated: Family History of the Río Abajo."
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