Borderlands 2005: Movers and Shakers

By Ruth Vise

Ms. Ruth Vise Faculty Editor & Advisor

This spring, the main downtown library was closed for construction, so much of the material we normally use was unavailable. That meant my students really had to be resourceful and persistent. Amazingly, I didn’t hear complaints. I heard students excitedly telling each other where certain sources could be found, who was especially helpful at particular libraries, how to get to the Historical Society , how “cool” the Special Collections were at UTEP. And they produced some excellent papers that always serve as the basis of our stories.

Stella Perry and Adri Alatorre surpassed my expectations in fulfilling their duties as editors. They traveled all over, interviewing people, looking for photographs and primary sources, and they discovered some gems, such as the Tularosa Historical Society. Thank you, Stella and Adri!

This year, we feature several stories that detail some of the movers and shakers in our area during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Articles on Charles Kelly , William Burges and his brother Richard Burges detail the Progressive era as does the article on two of the “Big Five” madams in El Paso.

Other articles explore the loss of land and livelihood ranchers such as Bill McNew and John Prather experienced when the U. S. Army decided to expand White Sands Missile Range and McGregor Range. New Mexican Tom Charles fought for years to protect White Sands from commercial developers and make it into a national park. It is almost inconceivable to think that this gorgeous national playground  might not exist had it not been for Charles.

Other stories take a look at people who are associated with Dripping Springs , a beautiful recreational area just out of Las Cruces, and Tom White , the first warden of La Tuna, a federal prison and local landmark. We also feature stories on R. E. Thomason and the hospital named for him and the White House Department Store .

One story has been on my mind for years. In 1993, a student researched a phenomenon called “ Mexican Repatriation .” I had never heard about it, and I looked for sources that would document this 1930s deportation of Mexican immigrants and sometimes their children and others born in America. A few studies appeared in the mid 1970s and 1980s. Only recently, however, have scholars begun to document this event. A veil of silence still hangs over families with repatriados, most of whom are long dead. But younger generations have begun to ferret out the facts and the human stories. And so I thank Rosa Prieto, who first brought this topic to my attention.

For their support all these years, I heartily thank the El Paso Times for inserting our publication in a Sunday edition. I am also most grateful to my faculty editors who keep us on our toes and do so without remuneration. Thank you, Joe Old, Martha Lou Broaddus and Morgan Broaddus. Heartfelt thanks go to Head Librarian Monica Wong and her staff at Northwest Campus, who do everything possible to help us throughout the year. Monica also is responsible for putting Borderlands on the Web.

Thanks to April Lee, my grownup daughter, who began helping us edit this year. Whether you are a longtime reader or have just discovered Borderlands, my students and I hope you enjoy these stories.

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