by Fred Wendorf with James E. Brooks
In the summer of 1956, a beautiful small mountain valley located ten miles south of Taos, New Mexico, became the scene of an important experiment in the development of a center for research and teaching in the field sciences, the humanities, and the arts. Within this mountainous area of the Little Rio Grande Valley was a pre-civil War U.S. Army post known as Cantonment Burgwin. The archaeological excavation and restoration of this army post provided the initial stimulus for the Fort Burgwin Research Center. From the very beginning, Fred Wendorf played a central role in the shaping of the Center. He served as Director for the first twenty years and as an interested onlooker after 1976. In this book, he details the founding and the history of the Center. To tell the story after his resignation as Director in 1976, Wendorf invited James E. Brooks – at that time Provost of Southern Methodist University (SMU) and administrator responsible for the Center – to describe events up to 1984, when the Center became fully integrated into SMU as "The Fort Burgwin Research Center." Today the more than 300 acre campus is called SMU-in-Taos, and functions as the western campus of the university. Every year between May and October some 200 students and faculty from the main campus in Dallas come to Fort Burgwin, which is nestled in the Sangre de Cristo mountains and surrounded by the Carson National Forest. Here they participate in a learning experience unique among U.S. colleges and universities - an experience influenced by the blend of Pueblo Indian, Spanish and Anglo cultures as well as the Center's 28-year history.
Fred Wendorf earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University. He served as Director of the Fort Burgwin Center from 1956 to 1976. He joined SMU in 1964 as founding chairman of the Anthropology department. He retired in 2002 and continues his research and writing.
James E. Brooks received his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Washington. In 1952, he joined the Geology Department at SMU where he served as department chair, Dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences, Associate Provost, Provost and President Ad Interim. Currently he is Chairman of the Institute of Earth and Man (SMU).
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