The Historical Society of New Mexico announced this week that Denise Tessier of the East Mountain Historical Society has received this year’s prestigious Edgar Lee Hewett Award for “outstanding service to the people of New Mexico, as related to New Mexico history.”
According to a press release, the awards committee said it was impressed with Tessier’s nearly three decades of “dedicated service to the East Mountain Historical Society,” during which time Tessier served on the board of the EMHS, produced its award-winning newsletter, contributed to the award-winning book Timelines of the East Mountains, wrote many articles on the history of New Mexico, offered talks to historical societies and other groups and promoted the history and cultural heritage of the East Mountains area.
“The preservation and promulgation of New Mexico’s rich history is largely in the hands of our many regional historical societies, which in turn are dependent upon the contributions of their dedicated individual members, like you,” HSNM said in the release. “We applaud your many years of service to EMHS and your dedication to New Mexico’s history.”
Hewett, the award’s namesake, began his professional life as an educator, and in 1898 he was appointed president of New Mexico Normal University (Highlands). Soon after, archaeology became his principal interest, bringing him worldwide recognition for his investigations on the Pajarito Plateau and elsewhere. Hewett is remembered as a founder of both the Museum of New Mexico and what became the School of American Research. Largely as a result of his efforts, federal officials established Bandelier National Monument in 1916.
The East Mountain Historical Society itself was honored two years in a row with receipt of HSNM’s top regional publications accolade, the Lansing B. Bloom Award. In 2021, it was honored for the Timelines book, which is in its third printing, and in 2022, for its EMHS Newsletter, which Tessier had written and produced for 24 years.
Tessier is currently organizational Historian for EMHS and is working to preserve its archives. She continues on its board with Emeritus status.
