AlamogordoTownNews.com Dr Martin Luther King Day of Service in Alamogordo & The Story of Blackdom, New Mexico

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described the “Beloved Community” as a society where “caring and compassion drive political policies that support the worldwide elimination of poverty and hunger and all forms of bigotry and violence. At its core, the ‘Beloved Community’ is an engine of reconciliation.” Friday began Dr. Martin Luther King celebrations with an online learning opportunity for educators across the nation via the King Centers' Online Interactive learning aids.

Alamogordo's citizens participated in celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King this past weekend with volunteerism, a march at Alameda Park and Owens AME's Reverend Robinson speaking at the Roadrunner Emporium's New York Avenue history tour on Saturday where he then joined the NAACP and others at Alameda Park for the observance of remembering the legacy of Dr. King.

This year, Chris Rollerson organized the event at Alameda Park, that included the attendance and the reading of a proclamation by Alamogordo Mayor Susan Payne, and a letter from U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan read by Nadia Sikes.  There was also a cookout by the #11 Masonic Lodge.

Reverend Robinson, as a participant of the January 2022 Roadrunner Emporium's New York Avenue History Tour reminded participants that February is Black History Month in the US but that "Black history is everyone's history in Alamogordo and in the US."  He also mentioned that he will be hosting a "series of educational lectures and events in February, March and beyond specific to Black History" in Alamogordo at Owen AME church on Delaware Street. He stressed that "these events are open to all cultures, races and to anyone wanting inspiration and historical perspective."

Roadrunner Emporium and the AlamogordoTownNews.com is also seeking individuals interested in sharing stories of the historical black experience in Alamogordo that will be published in a series of articles and a potential book under the heading of "Tales from Alamogordo's Delaware Avenue" to be released in February 2022.

From the founding years of Alamogordo, Delaware Avenue was the center of education and spiritual gatherings of the Black community with the school and predominately black churches located there. At the turn of the previous century, Alamogordo was split into two cities: Alamogordo and Chihuahua which became a part of Alamogordo when it was incorporated in 1912. Chihuahua was the community that housed Black and Hispanic families primarily.

At founding through the 1930's Hispanics could not go north of 10th Street or into the plaza. At the time it was the Plaza Bar and the Plaza Cafe. African Americans could go in the back door of the plaza which was then was a storeroom. But the Apache could walk in the front door of the bar or the cafe at any time and have a seat according to local historians. 

Delaware Avenue was the meeting place of the Black community historically in a town that was segregated in many areas. On Delaware Avenue, prior to integration was the Delaware School for Negro Children also known as the Corinth School and on Maryland Avenue was the Dudley School for Hispanic Children known by some as the Maryland School. 

The 1949/50 school year brought about integration of the Alamogordo public schools and a change in policy towards people of color within Alamogordo per history that is taught or referenced most often.

During a similar period as to the founding of Alamogordo a little-known bit of Black history in New Mexico is the story of Blackdom, New Mexico. Blackdom was the most important black homesteader colony in New Mexico.

Blackdom was located fifteen miles south of Roswell. The town was incorporated in 1903 by thirteen African Americans. This group formed the Blackdom Townsite Company with $10,000 in combined assets. The group named Frank Boyer as their president.

After some false starts, settlement began in an area of desert prairies around 1909. The region receives around 12 to 13 inches of precipitation annually. Underground reservoirs and artesian wells offered hope of bolstering poor rainfall with irrigation.

Homesteaders may have been attracted to the area by a string of wetter years. They may also have been reacting to whites’ increasing hostility toward blacks living in Southern New Mexico, Texas and elsewhere that leaned Southern in ideology of the times.

Prominent families of Blackdom included the Boyers, Herrons, Proffits, Collins, Eubanks, Wilsons, and Smiths. Many of these families were intertwined through kin and marriage relationships.

The community’s exact population is unknown, but estimates suggest around 150 persons. At least twelve women homesteaded, several on their own. One of those women was Mattie Moore Wilson; she owned 640 acres of land under two different land laws.

By 1929, Blackdom residents had received homestead patents on sixty-four claims. Some residents filed for 160 acres under the Homestead Act. Other people filed for 320 acres under the Enlarged Homestead Act, Stock Raising Homestead Act, or the Desert Lands Act. Together these residents owned 13,056 acres; averaging 204 acres per claim.

The residents of Blackdom established a community school, initially housed in the church. The school ensured that Blackdom’s children would be educated. The residents understood the importance of education and its connection to power and influence.

Many lived on farms, but Blackdom also developed a small village that gained its own US post office in 1912. The village opened a store, a new church, a pumping plant, and an office building (likely containing land sales and legal offices).

Blackdom’s prosperity depended on adequate precipitation. From 1911 through 1923, rainfall in the area averaged 13.5 inches. This prosperity was marred only by the dry years of 1917, 1918, and 1922. Rainfall in the 1920s, however, was less plentiful and highly variable. The disastrous decline in crop prices after World War I badly damaged Blackdom’s farmers.

Blackdom’s post office closed in 1919. Blackdom began to empty out in the 1920s, though current records do not allow us to say by exactly how much.

National oil companies and local oil speculators discovered oil in the Roswell Basin. These companies began buying leases and sinking exploratory wells. Blackdom residents pooled their lease rights and formed the Blackdom Oil Company. The company was formed to make their land more attractive to major lease buyers and strengthen their bargaining power. The Company controlled lease rights to perhaps 10,000 acres.

By March 1920, the Blackdom Oil Company entered a contract for 4,200 acres with the National Exploration Company in a deal worth up to $70,000. Unfortunately, the fields were not commercially viable, prompting oil activity in the Roswell Basin to come to an end.

The community of Blackdom did not survive the Great Depression.

 October 26, 2002, was proclaimed Blackdom Day by the governor of New Mexico, and a historical marker was erected at a rest stop on Highway 285, between Roswell and Artesia. Former Blackdom residents and descendants of settlers were present for the dedication ceremony. Local and state community leaders have worked to establish a memorial site in or near Roswell to commemorate the community of Blackdom. Archeological examinations of the homestead have been directed by the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Authority.

As we conclude the weekend of remembrance of Dr. King we look back at history hoping that we can each learn from the lessons of our past and carry forward a diverse path of unity for all of our citizens and indeed, "keep the dream alive."

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