History - El Rito Library

The library room that is our Children's Room was originally built in the 1930s as Placitas Middle School. Later a three room WPA adobe structure was added and later a community room, kitchen space, and rest rooms. In 1969, when students moved into new facilities, our building housed the El Rito Headstart Program and the Rio Arriba Senior Citizens Center. On May 5, 1986, Las Clinicas del Norte Director Andy R. Lopez and professional librarian Betsy McIntosh (1918-2001) established the El Rito Public Library. The library occupied one room. Other rooms housed the senior center and the clinic. The Senior Citizens Center moved out after a new Community Center was built in El Rito.

On February 1, 2000, after the clinic moved into a new building in El Rito, a Grand Opening of the "new" library occupying the entire building was held, after extensive renovations were made. Renovations were supported by a capital-improvement grant from the New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps, supplemental funding from the Los Alamos Foundation, and an outpouring of volunteers and community donations. Through the following years more improvements were made thanks to significant grants from the Helen and Will Webster Foundation and Lowe's.

El Rito History

History

Background of the Community of El Rito. Excerpts from an interview with Fr. Jerome Martínez recorded at the Parish Rectory in El Rito, New Mexico, on September 17, 1983.
El Rito Oral History Project is underway, collecting oral histories from area residents.

Films

Celebración del Matrimonio. This short (29 minute) film starts with an historical overview of Hispanic marriage customs, which mirror customs in Spain, Mexico, and North Africa that were brought to the Southwest by the region's first colonists in 1598. Then in the village of El Rito the film follows the entire nuptial sequence, from betrothal through the grand celebration, and shows how it incorporates forms of cultural, artistic, and religious expression unique to the region.
Library Stories: Books on the Backroads is a short (55 minute) film about New Mexico's rural libraries, about villages and Pueblo communities, their histories and their people, where the libraries are and what their libraries mean. El Rito Library is one of the featured libraries.

Genealogy

Albuquerque Library Genealogy Center
Archdiocese of Santa Fe has a microfilm archive dating back to 1678 that includes New Mexico baptismal, marriage, and death records. Due to staff cutbacks, access is limited; see the Archdiocese Archive Office site for more information. The New Mexico Genealogical Society (below) has an online index of the records available at the archdiocese.
FamilySearch centers in Espanola and Santa Fe (limited hours, check web sites)
Hispanic Genealogical Resource Center of New Mexico
New Mexico Genealogical Society

“Reclaiming Our Heritage: Documenting El Rito’s Natural and Cultural Landscape”.

Natural Landscapes of Ancient Earth History:
1. Summary of the Paleontology of the Santa Fe Group (Mio-Pliocene), north-central New Mexico. 1979. Barry Kues and Spencer Lucas in NM Geological Society 30th Year Annual Field Conference Guidebook, pp. 237-241.

2. The Stratigraphic Position of Fossil Vertebrates from the Pojoaque Member of the Tesuque Formation (Middle Miocene, Late Barstovian) Near Española, New Mexico. 2016. Stephen F. Austin University SFA Scholar Works. Electronic Theses and Dissertations.

3. Trackway of a Giant Arthropleura From the Upper Pennsylvanian of El Cobre Canyon, New Mexico. 2005. S. Lucas, A. Lerner, J. Hannibal, et al. In: NM Geological Society, 56th Field Conference Guidebook Geology of the Chama Basin. 2005. p. 279-282.

4. One Hundred and Fifty Years of Geological and Paleontological Research in Cañon Del Cobre, Northern New Mexico. 2010. S. Lucas, S Harris, J. Spielmann. In: Lucas et al, eds. 2010. Carbiniferous-Perrmian Transition in Cañon del Cobre, NM Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 49.

5. Pennsylvanian-Permian Fossil Floras From the Cutler Group, Cañon Del Cobre and Arroyo Del Agua Areas, In Northern New Mexico. 2005. W. Dimichele, D. Chaney in Lucas, Ziegler, Spielmann, eds. 2005, The Permian of Central New Mexico, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 31.

6. Upper Triassic plants of Cañon del Cobre, New Mexico. 1974. S. Ash In: New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook 25, pp. 179-184.

7. A Critical Re-Evaluation of the Late Triassic Dinosaur Taxa of North America” 2007. S. Nesbitt, R. Irmis, W. Parker. In Journal of Systematic Paleontology, Vol. 5, Issue 2. pp. 209-243.