Questa Stories · Items · Manitos Digital Archive

Portrait of Kate Cisneros in her Kitchen

Portrait of Kate Cisneros in her Kitchen, June 14, 2018

Story Sharing and Discussion: Martha Rael Nimon - Grandfathers Horse; Monica Ortega and Irma Cisneros Sledding Adventure

Story Sharing and Discussion from Martha Rael Nimon about how she used to ride her Grandfather's Horse and Monica Ortega and Irma Cisneros recount a childhood sledding story they were told by school Grandmothers Tessie and Grandma Tina.

Story-sharing and discussion at Questa Women's Tea: Loveida Cisneros, Monica Ortega, Judy Rutledge, Esther Garcia, Martha Rael Nimon and Maria Gonzales

Story-sharing and discussion at Questa Women's Tea, November 16, 2019: Loveida Cisneros - Woodcutting and picnic lunch; Monica Ortega – they had a way of sharing lessons without saying it directly; Judy Rutledge – details of stories important to share with our youth; Esther Garcia – Winter Bus Rides with Felix Quintana; Martha Rael Nimon – Memories of Esther’s dad driving the bus; Maria Gonzales – Memories of her Grandmother

Esther Garcia: lessons learned from her father about land and water

Esther Garcia: lessons learned from her father about land and water, importance of youth involvement and water scarcity. Stories and discussion took place at the Questa Women's Tea, November 16, 2019.

Portraits of Judy Rutledge, Women's Tea, Questa, November 16, 2019

Portrait of Carrie Leven and Monica Ortega, Women's Tea, Questa, November 16, 2019

Portrait of Carrie Leven and Monica Ortega, Women's Tea, Questa, November 16, 2019, both participants in this first women's memory gathering event hosted by Questa Stories.

Portrait of Carrie Leven, Questa Women's Tea, November 16, 2019

Portrait of Carrie Leven, Questa Women's Tea, November 16, 2019. At this event, Carrie shared the experience that peaked her interest in archaeology and eventually led her to a career in the field.

Maria and Amalia Gonzales

Maria Gonzales and Amalia Gonzales (daughter of Maria) at the Questa Women's Tea, November 16, 2019

Women's Tea Invitation, Questa, November 16, 2019

Invitation to the first Questa Stories Women's Tea Invitation, November 16, 2019

Photo of Martha Rael Nimon

Portrait of Martha Rael Nimon, participant at the November 16, 2019 Questa Women's Tea, photo taken at July 8, Memory Gathering Event at Questa VFW

Story about Irene Gomez Rael (Paternal Grandmother of Martha Rael Nimon)

Story illustrating the grit and tenacity of Irene Gomez Rael (paternal Grandmother of Martha Rael Nimon) and one of the dichos that impacted Martha that her grandmother used to tell her.

Orchard of farmer at Dixon, New Mexico

One of several Farm Security Administration photos taken in Dixon.

Conversation with Questa Quilting Group Members about their Group

This is a sound recording of a conversation with the Questa Quilting Group Members about their Group. These women have been meeting together for over 20 years, working on quilts together, helping each other to quilt individual projects and raffling off quilts to donate money to causes within the community. This conversation explores these topics at the Questa Youth Center on November 13, 2019. Members present are Louisa Aragon, Evangeline Jaramillo, Esther Garcia and Maria Elizabeth Huddle.

Questa Quilting Group 2019

These women have been meeting together for years, working on quilts together, helping each other to quilt individual projects and raffling off quilts to donate money to causes within the community. This photo was the women who came to the group at the Questa Youth Center on November 12, 2019. Top row left to right: Louisa Aragon and Evangeline Jaramillo. Bottom row sitting left to right: Esther Garcia and Maria Elizabeth Huddle. They are sitting and standing behind a quilt made by Louisa Aragon for a new baby soon to be born to one of her family members, from a pattern she got from Elizabeth Huddle. The group will be stitching (quilting) it together before she gives it to the new baby.

Flavio shares the letter requesting his Mother's Hand in Marriage

Flavio Cisneros shares a Letter that was written in February, 1925, requesting the marriage of his mother, Corina Gonzales (later Cisneros) to Francisco Cisneros. The letter was scribed on behalf of Francisco's parents (Adelaida Montoya Cisneros and Gavino Cisneros who could not write) to Mclovio Gonzales and Rosita Velasquez Gonzales (Uncle and Grandmother of Corina Gonzales and her wards after her parents died in the flu epidemic in May 1918). The letter is written in phoenetic Spanish.

Bob Jaramillo's knife that his family used to butcher hogs

Bob Urban Jaramillo shares the knife that his family used in the process and tradition of butchering a hog.

Photos of Adelaida Montoya Cisneros and Gavino Cisneros

Flavio Cisneros shared these photgraphs along with the letter that was written in February, 1925, requesting the marriage of his mother, Corina Gonzales (later Cisneros) to Francisco Cisneros. The letter was scribed on behalf of Francisco's parents, the people in these photos, Adelaida Montoya Cisneros and Gavino Cisneros. (They could not write.) The letter was written to Mclovio Gonzales and Rosita Velasquez Gonzales (Uncle and Grandmother of Corina Gonzales and her wards after her parents died in the flu epidemic in May 1918). The letter is written in phoenetic Spanish.

Photos of Flavio Cisneros sharing the letter requesting his Mother's Hand in Marriage

Flavio Cisneros shares a Letter that was written in February, 1925, requesting the marriage of his mother, Corina Gonzales (later Cisneros) to Francisco Cisneros. The letter was scribed on behalf of Francisco's parents (Adelaida Montoya Cisneros and Gavino Cisneros who could not write) to Mclovio Gonzales and Rosita Velasquez Gonzales (Uncle and Grandmother of Corina Gonzales and her wards after her parents died in the flu epidemic in May 1918). The letter is written in phoenetic Spanish.

Bob Jaramillo describes the knife used by his family to butcher hogs

The resources is a wav file of Bob Jaramillo describing the family tradition of butchering a hog with a knife that he brought to share July 8, 2018, at the VFW Hall in Questa at the "Community Memory and Story Sharing" event organized by Questa Stories (LEAP/Localogy) and the Questa History Trail (Questa Creative Council).

Pedimento, Request for Marriage between Jose Francisco Antonio Cisneros and Maria Corina Gonzales

This is a classic pedimento, a request for marriage, a rite for asking for the girl's hand in marriage. In this letter, Gavino Cisneros and Adelaida M. Cisneros write to Maclobio Gonzales and Rocita B. Gonzales, all of Questa, New Mexico, indicating that their son, Jose Francisco Antonio Cisneros would like to marry Maria Corina Gonzales. The letter is written on February 5, 1925 and they propose that the marriage take place in the month of July.

Description and Reading of letter requesting Flavio Cisneros Mother's Hand in Marriage

Letter was written in 1925, recording was made July 8, 2018 at the VFW Hall in Questa at the "Community Memory and Story Sharing" event organized by Questa Stories (LEAP/Localogy) and the Questa History Trail (Questa Creative Council)

Camphor Bottles from Lovedia Quintana Cisneros

Loveida Quintana Cisneros shares bottles of whiskey infused with camphor from her mother used for common ailments.

Camphor Bottles from Lovedia Quintana Cisneros

Loveida Quintana Cisneros shares bottles of whiskey infused with camphor from her mother used for common ailments.

Jeannie Masters Shares Celestina Arellano Martinez's "At Home Shoes"

Celestina Arellano Martinez, originally from Costilla, owned two pairs of shoes; these were the "At Home Shoes." They were shared here by Jeannie Sanchez Masters on July 8, 2018 at the VFW Hall in Questa at a Community .

WORKING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY

The photo is one of the only remaining remnants of one family's participation in the wartime industry, working on the docks and shipyards. Many families and individuals migrated during wartime to California to work in these wartime jobs. Some remained and others eventually returned home. By 1944, two Rael brothers, Eli and Selimo Rael had traveled to Oakland. They were in their 20s and 30s respectively. At the time, the Kaiser Shipyards in nearby Richmond were the primary industry, but other docks also employed men in San Francisco and Oakland. Nora Rael Galvez remembers bits and pieces of this history because in those years, her mother and father also moved to be with their sons in Oakland. "My dad might have closed up his store in Questa then and I guess he might have been employed where his sons were at the shipyards. As a seamstress, my mom, Andrellita used to make money for the family doing that work. One summer, I went as well and was employed in a candy factory," Nora recalled.