Join us at History Notes as Museum Curator Joanne Beer presents “Change Comes with the Railroads” on Thursday, February 8 at 1pm at the Branigan Cultural Center.
Joanne Beer is the Curator of Education at the Las Cruces Railroad Museum. She has lived in Las Cruces since 1983 and has been employed with the City of Las Cruces Museums for 10 years. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from New Mexico State University, and taught 5th grade with the Gadsden Independent
School District before joining the Las Cruces Museum System in 2007. Through her work at the Railroad Museum, she has researched and read extensively about local history and Fred Harvey’s impact on the west.
For Ms. Beer’s lecture, she discusses population growth in New Mexico due to the arrival of the railroad, Fred Harvey’s impact on train travel, and why the railroad came to Las Cruces instead of Mesilla. She will also discuss the Las Cruces Railroad Museum’s historic 1890 caboose.
“History Notes” lecture series takes place on the second Thursday of each month at 1 pm. Lectures are free and open to the public. The 2018 History Notes lecture series features topics related to interesting people of the Southwest.
Admission to the Branigan Cultural Center is free. The museum is located at 501 North Main Street and is open Tuesday – Friday from 10am to 4:30pm, Saturday from 9am to 4:30pm. For additional information, visit the website at: museums.las-cruces.org or call 575.541.2154.