History ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 5-12-2018
Abstract
This master’s thesis recovers the history of Blackdom, New Mexico. Founded by an African American family from Georgia, Blackdom is a ghost town that existed in the early decades of the twentieth century near Roswell, New Mexico. Blackdom was initially imagined as both a refuge from the hostilities of Jim Crow society and as a for-profit enterprise. Entanglement in land-fraud scandals hindered the town’s early development, but Blackdom eventually grew to nearly three hundred residents, with its own school, Baptist church, post office, and general store. Blackdom settlers practiced a variety of agricultural methods, including dry farming and irrigation from shallow wells, but drought eventually doomed this unique community. This study engages Blackdom’s history through three distinct lenses: community, race, and environment. It explores how Blackdom was envisioned and created, discusses the role of race in both internal and external perceptions of the community, examines the volatile environment of the Pecos Valley that contributed to Blackdom’s collapse, and connects this hidden history to memorial attempts that emerged nearly a century after Blackdom was established.
Level of Degree
Masters
Degree Name
History
Department Name
History
First Committee Member (Chair)
Samuel Truett
Second Committee Member
Robert Jefferson
Third Committee Member
Durwood Ball
Language
English
Keywords
Blackdom, Black Towns, New Mexico, Roswell, Environment, Community, Race, Memorial, Pecos Valley
Project Sponsors
New Mexico Office of the State Historian; UNM Center for Regional Studies
Document Type
Thesis
Recommended Citation
Miller, Austin J.. "Blackdom: Interpreting the Hidden History of New Mexico's Black Town." (2018). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/218
