Our History
El Palacio is the oldest museum magazine of its kind, first published in 1913 by the Museum of New Mexico. This state museum system was created by an act of the territorial legislature in 1909, three years before New Mexico became a state (January 6, 1912). It was established in the Palace of the Governors with the School of American Archaeology (later the School of American Research) alongside the already existing Historical Society of New Mexico. El Palacio (“the palace”) magazine was first published in November 1913—its name refers to the Museum of New Mexico’s first home.
The Museum of New Mexico was eventually reorganized under the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), which was established in April 2003 after the governor signed legislation elevating the Office of Cultural Affairs to Cabinet-level status.
In the words of one writer, El Palacio “has appeared over the years in numerous manifestations, from its beginning as a thin pamphlet in the teens to a journal that grew from the ‘50s through the ‘80s to a glossy magazine with color art and (gasp!)
1913
Edgar Lee Hewett (1865–1946), who founded the School of American Archaeology in 1907 and the Museum of New Mexico in 1909, founded El Palacio in 1913 because he needed to promote these institutions and their projects.
The first issue of El Palacio was published in November 1913 by the Archaeological Society of New Mexico; it focused on Southwest archaeology and Museum of New Mexico news. Paul A.F. Walter was the inaugural editor and the acting director of the Museum of New Mexico at the time.
1925
By 1925, readership had spread far beyond the original audience of the archaeological community in New Mexico. The New York Public Library and the Congressional Library in Washington, D.C., among other institutions, requested back issues of El Palacio in order to maintain a full run in their collections.
1957
The first El Palacio cover to be printed in color was published in January 1957.
1968
Carol Scott Alley edited El Palacio during 1966-1968, overseeing a dramatic shift in the magazine’s content. During her tenure, “the magazine’s scope has been broadened from essentially an archaeological journal featuring site reports, to a magazine presenting articles on all aspects of the state museum’s program-archaeology-ethnology, Southwest history, fine arts, Spanish Colonial art, and international folk art.” These changes led to a reported doubling of subscriptions.
1991
The Summer 1991 issue was the first that contains paid advertising. It also appears to be the first printed primarily in full color. Older issues of El Palacio were primarily black-and-white or duotone with some full-color pages.
2000
Ten years after the launch of the world’s first website on the new “World Wide Web,” El Palacio editor Barbara Hagood announced the Museum of New Mexico’s first website in the Summer/Fall issue of 2000. Hagood wrote, “Even as the web is changing our world, just as Gutenberg’s moveable type changed his in the mid-1400s, we cannot know its full promise nor its potential threat to convention.”
2013
El Palacio’s 100 Year Anniversary Issue was published in Winter 2013 along with an announcement that the entire back catalog of El Palacio issues had been digitized and available for free online in partnership with the New Mexico State Library.
2021
In 2021, El Palacio launched a companion podcast, Encounter Culture. Both the magazine and podcast are a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and share the art, history, and culture of New Mexico.