A sweet refuge
THE HARWOOD’S EVOLUTION TOWARD SERVING ALL THE PEOPLE
The Harwood’s evolution toward serving all the people
while preparing
to write this piece about the early days of the Harwood Library then Museum, I found an old journal entry from 1972:
The Harwood keeps me sane. I go there when I’m down, because its polished floors, handmade furniture and peaceful gloom have a quieting effect on my soul. I go there when I’m up, because it is there that I can find some esoteric book about the cosmos or Greek poetry, and where I can see the paintings and sculptures that capture the unique and mysterious identity of Northern New Mexico.
For 75 years the Harwood Foundation, serving as public library, museum, auditorium, classrooms and meeting rooms, was at the heart of the social and artistic life of Taos’ Anglo community. When I was hired as executive director in 1978, I set out to transform the Harwood from a predominately Anglo center to one which the entire community could use and enjoy.
my mother had been a volunteer at the library in the 1940s and had taken us kids there to borrow books. After she died in 1975, I began volunteering as a way of following in her footsteps. When the job of executive director came open, I applied. I was at the time the lead projectionist at the Taos Plaza Theater and had no administrative experience whatsoever. So how, you might ask, did I get the job? For one, few professional librarians wanted it at the salary of $9,000 a year, and for two, local politicians had grown old saying that the Harwood didn’t serve “their people.” I went to Taos Mayor Larry Santistevan and said that if I was hired to be director, I would do everything in my power to open the Harwood to everyone. “Larry,” I said, “if you write a letter recommending me, I think I have a shot at it.” He said, “You write the letter Levy, and I’ll sign it.” When I started, the main buildings of the complex were being renovated under a federal grant. The renovation modernized the electrical, heating and plumbing and it included the first public elevator and accessible drinking fountain in Taos. We resurrected the garden in the back with new grass, trees and furniture, built additional exhibit space for the art collection, and moved the tiny children’s section of the library to two spacious rooms in its own wing. The auditorium was opened again for theater, dance and poetry readings including the world premiere of Steve Parks’ play, “Manby.”
Despite augmenting the grant with a $72,000 loan (which was never paid back), the University of New Mexico, which owned the Harwood, felt that it was a financial burden and wanted to dump it, along with the D.H. Lawrence Ranch. They couldn’t escape, however, because Elizabeth “Lucy” Harwood had cannily included in the deed of conveyance that UNM had to keep the Harwood in perpetuity. Also, fortunately, the Harwood had some powerful friends. Meg Salman was, as president of the Harwood Advisory Board, a dynamic supporter, and her brother-in-law David Salman was the New Mexico House majority leader. Furthermore, Taos’ own C.B. Trujillo was the Senate majority leader. These two men, however, did not care for each other and in fact refused to speak to one another. So during the long legislative session of 1978, when I was down there groveling for funds, they made me run back and forth between them carrying demands and compromises. They rewarded me by getting the Harwood included in the general funding bill, which released UNM from most of its financial obligations. We suddenly had more money than we knew what to do with.
What we did with it was fairly spectacular. Using the new and abundant funds, we set out to revolutionize the Harwood. We fired the “tenured” UNM maintenance man and hired Carlos Rendon as head of maintenance and Gil (Gilligan) Luhan as his assistant. We increased the staff with people who were knowledgeable and enthusiastic about literature and art: Betsy Wolf as administrative assistant, Carmen Medina as a librarian, Cathy Logue as bookkeeper, David Witt as museum curator, Kathy Rael as children’s librarian and Victoria Plata as outreach librarian. The outreach program was ambitious. It included taking books to the senior center, jail, hospital, schools and homebound people. We published a regular column in the Taos News about new books and upcoming events, and broadcasted a regular radio program on KKIT in English and Spanish. Using the thousands of books that had been in storage, we held quarterly book sales that brought in funds to buy more library books.
The Southwest Library Association funded a $7,000 oral history project, and Juanita Jaramillo-Lavadie, the project leader, and eight other interviewers used cassette tapes to record 30 old-time citizens to relate what effect the coming of electricity had on Taos Valley. These tapes have been digitized on CDs and are available at Taos Public Library.
The Children’s Library was at the heart of the Harwood’s revival. It was moved from a corner of the main library into its own quarters where children could be as loud and active as they wished. Under the second children’s librarian, Sally Blair, we started the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program in which each child received two free books of their choice, either in English or Spanish. There was storytelling by Bob Hawley, Susan Berman, Kathleen Summit and others, and in the summers, there were finger painting, puppet shows and other art projects in the garden at the back of the library. Motivated, if not inspired, by the excitement around the new programs and the increased number of Hispanic and Native American patrons, the town of Taos and Taos County, which had been funding minimal amounts, stepped up to the plate and began hitting singles: $10,000 from the town, $1,500 from the county, plus Jeannette Martinez, a full-time library intern. We also snatched up Comprehensive Employment and Training (CETA) and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) workers whenever possible.
Not everyone, of course, was thrilled with the changes we were making. Henry Saurerwein Jr., director or tyrant of the Wurlitzer Foundation, wrote an outraged letter to the Taos News complaining that I had removed the portraits of Lucy and Burt Harwood from the library’s entry. You can be sure I did; the last thing I wanted locals to see upon entering the library were two Midwesterners who had lived in Paris for many years peering down on them. From the very beginning, the Harwood depended on the energy and enthusiasm of volunteers. Serving on boards and committees or in an informal capacity, they helped with the public library, the museum and the auditorium. In the library, the Friends of the Library, headed by Louise Dice, were of significant support. In the museum, Bob Ray, Ivan Rosequist, Cliff Harmon and others provided astute knowledge of art. For theater programs, Otto Mears Pitcher, Wallace Bacon, Charlotte Lee, Ben Hazard and others lent their immense talents. There were many other generous volunteers throughout the history of the Harwood, and I wish I could name them all. The library attracted a variety of colorful patrons over the years, the old crowd of course. It was said that Lucy Harwood herself would sit in front of her home offering tea to anyone who came to borrow a book. The artists of the Taos Society of Artists donated paintings to the museum, and Mabel Dodge Luhan donated many hundreds of books. There was the older gentleman in ragged clothes who carried his library card and a few bills in a Sucrets can. When he died in one of Taos’ dreariest motels, he left nearly a million dollars to his even older mother. And let’s not forget the artist who checked out the best and most valuable art books and wouldn’t return them. We sent threatening letters, which he didn’t answer and made phone calls he didn’t return. Finally, after a year, a friend of the library who had worked for the FBI went to his house in Ranchos and recovered the books, but we never did collect the overdue fines.
The librarians were no less colorful. The first to take the helm, when the library was in its new wing built under the 1937 WPA renovation, was Albert Gee, who had been hired by Lucy Harwood just prior to her death in 1938. Spud Johnson, editor of The Horse Fly, was the director from 1944 to 1947. Toni Tarleton, once a Harvey Girl, single-handedly ran it from 1954 to 1972. Librarians in my day included Dorothy Kethler, John Flexner, Tracy McCallum, Carmen Medina and Dixie Gillette. Being true Taoseños, they brought distinctive personalities to the party, various blends of skills, wit, idiosyncrasies and independence.
In 1981, we received another federal grant to renovate the Alcalde Building on the west side of the property, and that completed the construction project. Although the complex was stabilized and the programs expanded, the Harwood’s success also exposed its weaknesses. There was too little parking for the dramatic increase in patrons, and there was insufficient space for an expansion of the art and book collections. In 1983, the town took over the management of the library and eventually, in 1996, built the Taos Public Library in its present location. With the indefatigable efforts of Bob Ellis, the Harwood was transformed into a renowned art museum, which includes world-class artists.
Taos author John Nichols used to come to the Harwood to make copies of his novels for a dime a page. As always, he expresses a connection to the Harwood better than anyone. I have always thought of the Harwood as a sort of nest, a safe place and sweet refuge, promising wisdom, comfort, a familiar respite from the storm. Cornball sentiments, I know, but the Harwood never did me wrong, and so I can’t help it, I just feel that way. JIM LEVY HAS PUBLISHED 10 BOOKS OF POETRY, MEMOIRS, ESSAYS AND OTHER NONFICTION. HIS MOST RECENT BOOK IS “THOSE WERE THE DAYS, LIFE AND LOVE IN 1970S NORTHERN NEW MEXICO,” CO-AUTHORED WITH PHAEDRA GREENWOOD. HE WISHES TO GIVE BIG THANK YOUS TO JOHN NICHOLS FOR THE USE OF HIS QUOTE AND TO CARMEN MEDINA, BETSY WOLF, SALLY BLAIR AND JOHN FLEXNER FOR SHARING THEIR MEMORIES OF THE HARWOOD AND PROVIDING INVALUABLE ADVICE ABOUT THIS ARTICLE.