The history of New Mexico’s crypto-Jews is part of a larger story, echoing the Jewish people’s endless flight into a world-wide Diaspora. In the greater Southwest and much of northern Mexico and parts of Texas,circumstances drove many Conversos to hide their true identity while engaging fully in the Catholic church. Only some were, and are aware of their history. Only recently have circumstances prevailed making it safe for those who suspect Jewish background to come forward. The parameters of their hidden culture and the gradual but passionate reclamation of their past hold lessons for all of us, justifying the embrace of their return. Understanding their identity and the issues they face is a first step to the evolution of new Hispanic Jewish communities in southern Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

Featured presenter:  Corinne Joy Brown is the author of four books to-date and Senior Writer on-staff at four national magazines. (Persimmon Hill, the publication of the National Cowboy &Western Heritage Center, Oklahoma; Colorado Expression and Architecture & Design of the West (Colorado), and Working Ranch Magazine(Nevada.)

Corinne is a board member of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies and editor of HaLapid, the Society’s bi-annual literary journal/magazine serving hundreds of members. This past August, she was a key presenter at the opening of the first international Anusim Heritage Center in El Paso, Texas, a center for Jewish historical research and return.