HOUSE MEMORIAL 22

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Rodolpho "Rudy" S. Martinez and Patricia Roybal Caballero

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT LOCAL 890 UNION HALL IN BAYARD, NEW MEXICO, BE CONSIDERED FOR PLACEMENT ON THE STATE REGISTER OF CULTURAL PROPERTIES.

     WHEREAS, Local 890 union hall in Bayard, New Mexico, is steeped in the history of Mexican American and other minority groups' struggle and triumph over injustice and discrimination and that group's pursuit of happiness as guaranteed under the United States constitution; and

     WHEREAS, Local 890 union hall is a memorial enshrining the spirit of unity and brotherhood that was the impetus behind that minority group's remarkable achievement and is a reminder of unusual courage and fortitude, days of hardship and despair and the fight for human dignity; and

     WHEREAS, in October 1950, Local 890 went on strike at the mine and mill owned by Empire Zinc company after the company refused to negotiate and, in June 1951, obtained a court order prohibiting union members from blocking the road to the mine; and

     WHEREAS, when the women of Ladies Auxiliary 290 took over the picket line the following day, fifty-three of them were arrested and jailed, along with their children, but the picket line held. The arrests made national news and were featured in newspapers such as the New York Times; and

     WHEREAS, Local 890 union hall is where Salt of the Earth was planned and executed. The film was about the Empire Zinc company strike and addressed the subjects of the suppression of and discrimination against workers and was one of the first motion pictures to advance the feminist social and political point of view; and

     WHEREAS, Salt of the Earth, which was filmed in and around Grant county, New Mexico, is the only motion picture in American film history to be blacklisted; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico historical society has designated Salt of the Earth as a significant historical event; and

     WHEREAS, in 1992, the library of congress designated Salt of the Earth as one of one hundred films for preservation and posterity in the United States national film registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant"; and

     WHEREAS, Local 890 union hall has been a place for the community, where miners and their families could attend lectures and movies and socialize at dances, bingo parties, weddings and baptisms, in addition to being used for union business; and

     WHEREAS, Local 890 union hall has been designated as a classic building by the society of architectural historians; and

     WHEREAS, Local 890 union hall should be recognized as a historic landmark so that the struggle of the workers of Local 890 and Ladies Auxiliary 290 against racism, sexism and unjust working conditions will not be forgotten; and

     WHEREAS, Local 890 union hall is a structure having historic and cultural significance and is a valued and important asset of New Mexico that is worthy of preservation;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the cultural properties review committee consider placing Local 890 union hall on the state register of cultural properties; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state historic preservation officer assist the cultural properties review committee in considering placing Local 890 union hall on the state register of cultural properties; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of cultural affairs, the chair of the cultural properties review committee and the state historic preservation officer.

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