‘Taylor Talks’ highlight southern New Mexico history

It may not be open yet, but the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site has been generating a lot of buzz as the dates grow closer to the projected opening of the Visitor Center in the fall of this year. A grand opening will follow in the Fall of 2025. To keep the public informed on the site’s progress, a four-part lecture series will kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 27.

Called “Taylor Talks,” the series will bring in guest speakers to discuss the history of Mesilla and southern New Mexico as it relates to the site. Attendees will learn how the property – consisting of two store fronts on the Mesilla Plaza and the former residence of the late J. Paul and Mary Daniel Taylor in the rear – came to be the state’s latest monument to New Mexican history and culture.

The first of the free talks will be presented by Taylor-Mesilla’s Instructional Coordinator Supervisor Alexandra McKinney. She explains that her portion of the series will cover “what the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site is, how it became a state historic site, what the purpose of the historic site will be, and an overview of what the state is currently doing to prepare it for opening.”

Though no dates have yet been set for the other three lectures, McKinney has shared her vision for it. Part two “will cover the Taylor family home, the collection in the home, the architecture of the home, and some of the preservation the Taylor Family has done as well as how the state will use the collection going forward,” she said.

According to the website, “the Taylors were life-long collectors of furnishings, art, and artifacts which provide exceptional educational opportunities to bring New Mexico’s culture and traditions to life.” Having lived in the home for more than 60 years, it is a classic example of the values, lifestyle and architecture of New Mexico throughout the 20th century and beyond, as seen through the eyes of a multicultural family dedicated to education and history.

In part three of the series, the discussion will be about the Paul and Mary Daniels Taylor archival materials at the Rio Grande Historical Collections. According to McKinney, it will cover “Mary’s efforts as a historian and photographer and how her work has come to influence Southern New Mexican historical research.”

The fourth and final part will cover the Taylor family itself, including a history of the family directly from the source, via a presentation from Mike Taylor.

Presented by the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site and the Friends of Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site, the first lecture of the Taylor Talks series will take place at the Mesilla Community Center auditorium at 2251 Calle de Santiago, in Mesilla. The talks are free and open to the public. More information on the series and other aspects of the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site are available online at NMHistoricSites.org/Taylor-Mesilla.

A view of the Sala Grande west side of the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site.