“We know that we’re able to achieve things because of being women leaders, not in spite of being women leaders.” Carol Robertson Lopez, former IWF-NM President
Past IWF-NM presidents from left, Linda Cohen, Pat French, Beverly Duran, Betty Downes, Ruth Frazier, Maria Estela Lopez De Rios, Rebecca Wurzburger, Carol Robertson Lopez, Celia Foy Castillo and Diane Ogawa. Courtesy/IWF-NM
New Mexico has always attracted strong women leaders. Most pre-contact Puebloan cultures were matriarchal (many still are) and all honor their women as culture-bearers. Thousands of Hispanic women made the arduous journey up the 1,590-mile Camino Real to start a new life, many as heads-of-households. Women ranging from settlers to the Sisters of Loretto and Sisters of Charity braved the hardships of the Santa Fe Trail to make their lives here, establishing schools, hospitals and homesteads. Apache warrior L