Vanessa M. Macías
vmmacias@nmsu.edu
________________________________________________________________________
Education
M.A. Public History, New Mexico State University, currently enrolled. Program includes
training in oral history, museum education, historical site interpretation, and historical
editing.
M.A. History, University of New Mexico, 2004
Thesis: “‘En Unidad, Hay Poder’”: Community Activism and Ethnicity in South
Martineztown, 1930-1974.
Field: U.S. West
B.A., The University of Texas at El Paso, 2001
Major: History; Graduated Magna Cum Laude
Public History Experience
Las Villitas Exhibit Project Manager, El Paso Museum of History, El Paso, Texas,
September 2008-currently. As project manager, I am responsible for community
outreach, facilitating the acquisition of artifacts from local neighborhoods, and assist in
developing exhibition themes and design.
Oral History Collections Catalog Revision Coordinator, New Mexico Farm and Ranch
Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, New Mexico, February 2008-currently. This internship
position involves revising an outdated guide to Oral History collections in New Mexico.
National Register of Historic Places Nomination, State Theatre, Las Cruces, New
Mexico, April 2008-currently. I am working with the current theatre occupants to
nominate an Art Deco movie theatre located in downtown Las Cruces.
Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plan: Magoffin Home, El Paso, Texas, JanuaryMay 2008. Utilizing the National Park Service and National Register of Historic Place’s
Teaching with Historic Places guidelines, I wrote a lesson plan for the Magoffin Home
that fits the National Center for History in the Schools Standards in History for Grades 512 (Era 6).
Tour Guide, Time Travel by Lantern Light, New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage
Museum, Las Cruces, New Mexico, December 7, 2007.
Oral History Interviews (apart from interviews related to research projects):
Dolores Archuleta, Las Cruces, New Mexico, October 2007.
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Lucy Felix, El Paso, Texas, October-November 2007.
History Day Judge, The University of Texas at El Paso, Texas, February 2007.
Teaching Experience
Adjunct Faculty, History, El Paso Community College, El Paso, Texas, Fall 2004Summer 2008. I taught four US History survey courses a semester.
Graduate Assistant, Department of History, University of New Mexico, Fall 2002-Spring
2004. Duties included grading writing assignments and exams, leading review sessions,
and meeting with students.
Teaching Assistant, Department of History, The University of Texas at El Paso, Fall
2001. Duties included taking attendance, writing quizzes, leading discussion sessions,
meeting with students, and grading exams.
Tutor, History Tutoring Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, Fall 2000-Spring
2001. Duties included helping undergraduate students in US History survey courses
prepare for exams and research papers.
Research Experience
Internship, South Martineztown Project, Center for Regional Studies, University of New
Mexico. Duties included researching the South Martineztown neighborhood in libraries
and archives and cataloguing the neighborhood association’s papers. May-December
2003.
Internship with NARAL Pro-Choice America, Albuquerque, NM. Researched women’s
health issues in local community. February-August 2002.
Honors Thesis with Dr. Emma Pérez, The University of Texas at El Paso. “Mexican
American Women and The Popular Dry Goods, Co., 1950-1970.” Research focused on
Mexican American women employed as clerks at the Popular department store. I
examined the relationship between these women and their families, customers and other
sales clerks. Summer-Fall 2001.
Independent study with Dr. Maceo Dailey, The University of Texas at El Paso. I
collected oral interviews from Mexican American women in El Paso. The interviews
covered their experiences growing up as women and Mexican Americans. Fall 2000.
Publications and Presentations
“Xocolatl: History of Chocolate,” Lecture and PowerPoint Presented at El Paso Museum
of History Grand Opening. El Paso, TX. June 2007. Presentation met Texas Essential
Knowledge Skills requirements.
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“En Unidad, Hay Poder”: Community Activism and Ethnicity in South Martineztown,
1930-1974,” New Mexico Historical Review, Winter 2007.
“South Martineztown: A Community that Resisted Erasure,” Lecture Presented at
National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, Albuquerque, NM. April 2004
“South Martineztown, 1930-1960: An Urban Cultural Landscape, An Urban Home,”
Lecture Presented at Home on the Range Charrette, University of New Mexico.
December 16, 2003.
Awards and Honors
Hull History Scholar, Department of History, New Mexico State University, 2008-09.
Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, 2000-currently.
Certificate of Appreciation and Recognition for Participation in the El Paso Community
College Honors Program. 2004-07.
Honors, Department of History, The University of Texas at El Paso, 2001.
McNair Scholar, 2000-01.
Research Interests
Urban Chicano Communities, Twentieth Century US West, Borderlands, Public HistoryOral History, Museum Education
Foreign Language
Proficient in Spanish.
References Upon Request
August 2008