Speakers Bureau
Speakers Bureau: New Mexico Jewish History
The New Mexico Jewish Historical Society (NMJHS) sponsors a Speaker’s Bureau which is open to all organizations.
NMJHS is pleased to provide speakers on a variety of topics related to New Mexico Jewish History ranging from the early Jewish Ashkenazi Pioneer families coming down the Santa Fe Trail to the Converso descendants of Sephardic Jews who traveled north from Mexico in the early 16th Century.
How to Request a Speaker:
Steps required to request a speaker:
The list below contains the names, contact information and topics of NMJHS available speakers. Please be sure to discuss the speaker’s audiovisual needs. After the speaker completes the presentation, fill out a copy of the Completion Form and mail it to NMJHS, and it will pay an honorarium of $125 to the speaker. All speakers have agreed in advance to accept this honorarium as sole remuneration. However, the organization may provide meals or other assistance, as it wishes.
Available NMJHS Speakers:
Stefanie Beninato: info@swguides.com
Beninato is one of the famous, unknown tour guides in the Santa Fe area. Plying her trade for several years, Stefanie is dedicated to providing entertaining, informative and accurate tours. She is a near-native and lover of the Southwest, having earned a doctorate from the University of New Mexico in Southwest history. Stefanie has also worked for the state museum systems in a variety of capacities and participated in archaeological digs and field work here. Besides touring, Stefanie lectures, does research, mediations and facilitations.
Speaking Topics: “A History of Crypto-Jews in New Spain and New Mexico”
“The German Jews of Santa Fe: 19th and 20th Centuries”
Harvey Buchalter: hcbuchalter@gmail.com
A New York native, Harvey has resided in New Mexico since 1969 and is a retired high school and college teacher as well as an active sculptor, designer, and writer on Jews in New Mexico, how their history and culture have made a lasting impact on the state.
Harvey is also a certified Yiddish-to-English translator and has translated many memoires, documents, and even the 400- page autobiography of one of the most gifted sculptors in early 20th century Europe.
He is an active member of the NMJHS, former Board member, and is the recipient of the prestigious Hurst Award presented to individuals or organizations who have made contributions to New Mexico Jewish History.
Speaking Topics: “Building Community & Culture: Jews in the 20th Century Albuquerque”
“The Jewish Immigrant Experience in New Mexico”
“How Yiddish has Shaped Life in America”
“Albuquerque’s Congregation B’nai Israel: The First 90 Years”
Dianne Layden, Ph.D.: dlayden@earthlink.net
Dianne R. Layden is a semi-retired college professor and writer in Albuquerque. She holds a doctorate in American Studies from the University of New Mexico and has taught at the University of Houston and University of Redlands in Southern California among other institutions. Research interests include New Mexico history and culture, including Jewish history. Writing achievements include first-place awards from the New Mexico Press Women for an article about hate crimes at Nosh Deli in Albuquerque from the National Federation of Press Women for a two-part article about Holocaust survivors in New Mexico. Currently, she is portraying Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the New Mexico Humanities Council in its Chautauqua program and preparing a booklet about the repurchase of Temple Montefiore in Las Vegas, NM the oldest synagogue in the state by the Las Vegas Jewish Community, Inc.
Speaking Topics: “Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Santa Fe Opera”
“Jewish Jurist: Ruth Bader Ginsburg”
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Law”
“Temple Montefiore in Las Vegas, New Mexico”
“Hate Crimes in the U.S. and New Mexico”
Norma Libman: nrlibman@gmail.com
Norma is a journalist and lecturer with degrees in Education and Literature from Northeastern Illinois University, and has taught at universities, colleges and workshops in New Mexico, Illinois and elsewhere. She also has designed Jewish content programs for the Road Scholar program and served as a presenter and group leader.
She lectures extensively on Literature, Writing, and Jewish History and Culture. In addition, Norma has conducted extensive research in Crypto-Jewish History and interviews many individuals and families with hidden Jewish histories. She is a former member of the NMJHS Board and a recipient of the Hurst Award for her work in Jewish education.
Speaking Topics: “Lives of Contemporary Crypto-Jews in New Mexico”
“From Spain to New Mexico: The Journey to Keep a Secret”
“Was Columbus Jewish? Why Does It Matter?”
Richard Melzer: rmelzer@unm.edu
Professor Emeritus of History, UNM-Valencia Campus, Ph.D., UNM, since 1979; Dr. Melzer has published and lectured on a wide variety of topics in 20th Century New Mexico History, including his most recent books Breakdown: How the Secret of the Atomic Bomb was Stolen During World War II (2000) and Coming of Age in the Great Depression: The Civilian Conservation Corps Experience in New Mexico, 1933-42 (2000) and Buried Treasures: Famous and Unusual Gravesites in New Mexico History (2007). His publications have appeared in New Mexico Magazine, New Mexico Historical Review, Western Historical Quarterly, El Palacio, and Journal of the West and Military History of the Southwest. He has been UNM’s outstanding Teacher of the Year and is a Past-President of the Historical Society of New Mexico.
Speaking Topics: “The Swastika in New Mexico Cultures and History”
Naomi Sandweiss: nsandweiss@gmail.com
Naomi currently is Program Manager for the UNM Center for Development and Disability.. Previously, she was Executive Director of NMJHS, Parents Reaching Out and served as Youth Program Supervisor at the University of New Mexico, Division of Continuing Education.
She has several publications including Jewish Albuquerque and contributing writer to The Jewish Legacy in New Mexico, New Mexico Jewish Link, and Tablet Magazine.
Speaking Topics: “A Mobster in the Family: Jewish Gangsters”
“Family Vignettes: Uncovering, Honoring and Sharing Family “Stories”
“Star of David on the Santa Fe Trail: Jewish New Mexico”
“Jews at Camp Cody: A World War I Training Camp in Southern New Mexico”
Rabbi Dr. Jack Shlachter physicsrabbi@gmail.com
Jack Shlachter is a physicist who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for over thirty years with briefer stints at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, the Atomic Energy Agency, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, the latter two based in Vienna, Austria; he led both the Physics Division and Theoretical Division during his LANL career. In parallel, Jack is an ordained rabbi who led the Jewish congregation in Los Alamos, NM, for many years, was the rabbi in Center Moriches, NY, during his years at Brookhaven, and now serves as rabbi of HaMakom, a congregation in Santa Fe, NM, as well as the Los Alamos Jewish Center. He has also provided itinerant rabbinic support to far-flung Jewish communities including those in Vienna, Austria, Beijing, China, and Warsaw, Poland.
Speaking Topics:* Nuance in the Relationship Between Lewis Strauss and J. Robert Oppenheimer
* From Cat’s Elbow to Neutrinos: A Genealogical Thread Tying the Rhineland to Los Alamos (With a Few Detours)
* Jews in Theory: Jews at Los Alamos, NM, During the Manhattan Project
* Goldilocks and the Three Torahs: A Tale of the Scrolls at the Los Alamos Jewish Center
* Hi Ho at the Houhai: A Rabbi and his Wife Travel to China for the High Holidays
* The Grapes of Roth: Three Literary Giants (Joseph, Henry, and Philip Roth)