New Mexico in the 1920s

Minority Rights, Prohibition, and a National Scandal (A History, Encyclopædia Britannica) Teapot Dome Scandal - Part 1 - Dante

● In 1921, New Mexico Senator Albert Bacon Fall was appointed by President Warren G. Harding to the position of Secretary of the Interior, to the delight of the state. ○ The Secretary of the Interior was responsible for the handling of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the management of federal lands. ● In the same year, authority for supervision of certain land containing oil reserves was transferred by President Harding from the Navy to Secretary Fall’s Department of the Interior. Albert B. Fall. (A History, Encyclopædia Britannica) Teapot Dome Scandal - Part 2 - Dante

● Secretary Fall proceeded to secretly, illegally grant exclusive rights to certain companies to use the oil fields. ○ In California, Edward Doheny of the Pan American Petroleum Company was granted a lease to the Buena Vista Hills and Elk Hills reserves. ○ In Wyoming, Harry Sinclair of Mammoth Oil was granted a lease to the Teapot Dome (for which the scandal is named) reserves. ● After the Teapot Dome lease, Fall and his family received $200,000 from an unknown organization linked to Sinclair. ● Fall also received a ‘loan’ of $100,000 from Doheny, which suspiciously was issued around the time of the issuance of the contracts with Pan American. (A History, Encyclopædia Britannica, U.S. Senate) Teapot Dome Scandal - Part 3 - Dante

● The corrupt actions of Fall soon came under public investigation, when the Wall Street Journal reported on those actions. ● Congress ordered the cancellation of Fall’s leases, as did the Supreme Court, which found the executive transfer of authority between navy and Interior Department illegal to begin with. ● Sinclair and Doheny were acquitted on their most heinous charges, although contempt of court charges placed the former in prison for 6 and a half months. Fall was convicted on bribery counts, however, and was “sentenced to a year and a day in prison and to pay a $100,000 fine.” Civil Rights - Daniel (A History)

● Most black New Mexicans experienced increased discrimination, especially in public school. Until the state legislature passed new Jim Crow Laws in the 1920s, which allowed for local school boards to provide separate rooms for the teaching of pupils of African descent. ● KKK: The Ku Klux Klan in New Mexico held secret meetings, recruited new members The Klan intimidated individuals and burned crosses in scattered parts of New Mexico. ● New Mexicans saw that it was a hate-filled, destructive enemy of American civil rights, and so an anti-Klan bill was enacted in 1923, although it had almost no impact (A History) Women’s Suffrage - Sevi ● 1920s New Mexico was one of the last states to make vital steps towards women’s rights. ● During this time not only were anglo women fighting for basic rights, but so were Mexican and native women. It was an even harder fight for the mexican and native population because they were fighting for non discrimination and basic human rights. ● not only were the women a part of the rights movement for native and Mexican people, but also the men. Civil Rights - Daniel (A History)

Hispanics also felt the sting of racism, especially in education.

Mari-Luci Jaramillo: She and Hispanic children were often separated and made to feel inferior because of their language, their culture, and their ethnicity.

One Hundred Percent Americanism: Some educators believed that everyone should speak English to be good American citizens. Indian Rights - Daniel (A History)

Native american children were forced to attend boarding schools where their cultures were suppressed as an attempt to make them 100% American.

The Bursum Bill: Proposed a new federal law in 1922, which would have given title of much Pueblo land to non-indians who had occupied property on pueblo borders. Passed in early 1923 by the senate.

All Pueblo Council: Pueblo leaders like Tony Lujan were alerted of the bill’s progress in the senate, and so they organized the All Pueblo Council in order to battle Bursum’s plans. They argued that if the bill was passed, it would destroy not only Indian resources, but also Indian culture based on land and its spiritual importance. Eventually the Bursum bill was defeated in congress.

And then in 1924, the U.S. Congress granted U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans, guaranteeing their right to vote in all states except New Mexico and Arizona.

Struggle for Blue Lake - Daniel (A History)

Blue Lake, located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, is considered the source of all life for the people of Taos Pueblo. Taos Indians went to pray and worship in private, It was like a church to them. Taos Pueblo’s ownership over Blue Lake was then compromised in 1906 when the U.S. government made most of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains part of the Carson National Forest. And so the lake was now available to campers, hikers, and hunters who frequently contaminated the lake’s water, left trash, and interrupted indian religious services. Howard S. Beacham - Bailey (A History)

Howard S. Beacham was born January 27, 1883. In 1907, he traveled to Cloudcroft, NM where he began employment at the Virginia Hotel as a cook.

Beacham remained in the restaurant business until he was elected county Sheriff in 1920. His enforcement of Prohibition brought him to the attention of federal agents and he became a federal Prohibition Agent. Nina Otero-Warren - Sevi (A History) Nina Otero-Warren, a woman who changed women's rights in the state and around the country. She spent most of her life in santa fe where she learned the native language and became very involved in women's rights and activism. In 1910 the state constitution changed to say that women should have limited suffrage and the right to hold office in local school board elections. Although this seemed to be a victory Nina Otero-Warren and her caulleges were not happy with the partial victory. Over the next decade she continued to lobby with political leaders in Santa Fe and Washington. Nina Otero-Warren - Sevi (A History) *Trigger Warning*

One of New Mexico's U.S. senators, Thomas Catron was so against what Nina Otero-Warren was doing that he stated that “the only purpose for women is to stay home, have children, have more children, cook and wash dishes.” this infuriated the women activist and only added more fuel to the fire. Progress was very slow for things getting better in the state, in 1917 a bill to grant women to vote was not passed and only took hope away from the ones fighting. Nina Otero-Warren - Sevi (A History)

1920 was the year of accomplishment for Nina Otero- Warren. The New mexico state legislators passed the nineteenth amendment making new mexico the 32nd state to approve this major reform . Women in New Mexico celebrated as they could finally walk to voting booths and cast their votes in state and national elections. The 1920 presidential election showed a 58 percent increase in number of votes since 1916. Journal 6 Compare the actions of Albert B. Fall, and the consequences of those actions, with modern politicians whose names find their way into newspaper headlines. Why is it that politicians do not seem to learn the lessons of the past? (A History, Encyclopædia Britannica) Albert Bacon Fall - Part 1 - Dante

● Albert B. Fall was born 26 November, 1861, in Frankfort, Kentucky. ● Fall moved to New Mexico in the 1880s, “largely to recover from poor health and find new economic opportunities,” and began practicing law in 1889. ● Fall, before statehood, served as a lawyer, politician, and judge in the Territory. He also served as a Spanish-American War captain. In the New Mexico state constitutional convention, he caucused with the Republican Party. Albert Bacon Fall - Part 2 - Dante (A History, Encyclopædia Britannica) ● After the Constitutional Convention, Fall had the privilege of serving as one of New Mexico’s first United States Senators, along with Santa Fe Ring leader Thomas Catron. ● Fall held his Senate seat until 1921, when President Warren G. Harding appointed him to the Cabinet, as Interior Secretary. ● After his already discussed short tenure of two years, Fall resigned from his Cabinet position, returning to New Mexico, and was investigated for his corruption. ● In 1929, Fall, one of New Mexico’s first Senators and the first Cabinet Secretary from the state, became the highest official in US History convicted of committing a felony during their tenure. Embarrassing much of the state (although some still came to his defense), he served nine months, 19 days of a yearlong sentence for bribery. ● Fall died on 30 November, 1944, in El Paso Texas, still proclaiming innocence. Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, The. “Teapot Dome Scandal.”

Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2017. https://www.britannica.com/event/Teapot-Dome-Scandal Accessed 26 Feb. 2018.

Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, The. “Albert Bacon Fall.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, 22 July 2016, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Bacon-Fall. Accessed 28 Feb. 2018.

Richard Melzer, el. al. “Chapter 4.” A History of New Mexico since Statehood, U of New Mexico P, 2011, pp. 104–123.

United States, United States Senate, “Senate Investigates the ‘Teapot Dome’

Works Cited Scandal.” United States Senate, https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Senate_Investigates_th e_Teapot_Dome_Scandal.htm. Accessed 26 Feb. 2018. (A History) Prohibition - Bailey

The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution effectively established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States by declaring the production, transport, and sale of alcohol illegal.