Anthony Trujillo of the Okhay Owingeh Pueblo in New Mexico was doing some online research into his great-grandmother Gregorita Trujillo’s visit to the White House with a group called the Pueblo Potters in 1974 when he spotted Gregorita in a photograph online, standing behind First Lady Pat Nixon.
He emailed the Nixon Presidential Library, hoping that they might have other images and possibly documents about the Pueblo Potters exhibit.
Pamla Eisenberg, audiovisual technician, emailed him back with a link to more photos, including this one (Gregorita Trujillo is in the blue cape). She also explained his great-grandmother had participated in the first-ever exhibition of American Indian artists and their crafts at the White House. The exhibitors included New Mexico Pueblo Potters and other artisans. Anthony was thrilled.
“First of all, I had little expectation that I would hear back from someone who was even remotely interested in or knowledgeable about my inquiry,” he wrote. “Even more, I thought that, at best, any photos of the Pueblo artist's visit to the White House would be buried deep and probably irretrievably in an obscure archive. I was able to download and browse the contact sheets you sent over. I can't tell you how meaningful these photos will be for my family and my Pueblo.”
Olivia Anastasiades, supervisory museum curator, located Gregorita Trujillo’s pot in the museum’s collection. Museum collections manager Christine Mickey and museum technicians Penelope Yocum and Feliz Padilla unboxed Gregorita’s handcrafted pot, and photographed it for Anthony as well.
As Anthony continues his research, Pamla hopes that he and other Pueblo Potter relatives will someday visit the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and see their family artifacts from the White House exhibition in person.
We’re sharing these stories about the work of our staff in honor of Public Service Recognition Week. Our staff are proud to serve the American people every day in different ways across the nation. Partnership for Public Service Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
