THE FRIENDS UPCOMING
LECTURES
FALL 2025
All Friends' Lectures are held at the Martha Liebert Public Library,
126 Calle Malinche, Bernalillo, NM. Refreshments are served afterwards.
All lectures are free to the Public. Masks are optional.
A Look at Sandhill Cranes
& Native American History
Joseph Tackes
Historic Site Interpretive Ranger
Sunday - Oct 26, 2025 - 2:00pm​
Sandhill cranes are a staple sight in New Mexico during the winter months, but is there more to the history of these birds than what meets the eye? This lecture dives into the presence of sandhill cranes withing the indigenous histories of New Mexico and the Greater Southwest. We will look at iconography in the form s of pottery and petroglyphs, excavation data regarding faunal remains and the general relationship between cranes and humans over time.
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An Illinois native, Joseph Tackes graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2015 with a degree in Area Studies Geography and Spanish Language and Literature. For seven years he rotated between Peru, Honduras, Costa Rica and Spain working as an English instructor. Currently, he is at the Coronado Historic Site where some his responsibilities include researching site history, setting up wildlife cameras, providing guided tours and uploading weekly social media posts.
Horses, People & Landscapes
In Central New Mexico
1540 to Present
Emily Jones, Ph.D.
Sunday - Nov 23, 2025 - 2:00pm​
Hernan de Alvarado, a member of Coronado’s expedition, arrived in central New Mexico in August 1540 astride an animal new to the region – the horse. The spread of horses in this part of the world was but one part of the Columbian Exchange, the exchange of animals, plants and pathogens between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas that followed 1492. This talk will present the current research on horses and their part in the Columbian Exchange to the role of equines in New Mexico today.
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Dr. Emily Lena Jones, a professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico, earned her degrees from Vassar College and the University of Washington. She has published widely from professional books and articles about everything from Iberian rabbits (she received a Fulbright Award to Spain) to a young-adult novel set in archaeological time. In addition, she has taught at Utah State University, and Dine College, University of Arizona. Her hundreds of speaking engagements range from conferences throughout the United States to Paris.