Collections

Collection Highlights

Collections at the New Mexico History Museum include a multitude of items associated with our state’s unique blend of cultures, histories, lifeways, occupations, and diversions. They cut across time, reflecting ancestral occupation of the region by Indigenous peoples, and continuethrough Spanish colonization, Mexican administration, American settlement, and twentieth-century developmentto the present moment.

Many items represent tangible aspects of our region's larger stories. Other times, items provide a concrete connection to an individual person or small moment from the past. 

 Below, you'll find a deeper dive into a few featured collections.

Segesser Hide Paintings

Rare 18th century hide paintings of Spanish colonial battles

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Ben Wittick Collection

Glass plate negatives, photographic prints, and studio props from southwest photographer Ben Wittick

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The Frank Collection

Devotional art, especially Nuevomexicano santos, collected by Larry Frank

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USS New Mexico Collections

Collections related to the state's namesake U.S. Navy battleship

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Books printed by Padre Martinez

Books printed on New Mexico's first printing press by an influential 19th century priest

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Palace Press Collections

Working presses and other specialty collections at the Palace Press

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