HBCU Money™ Histronomics: New Mexico’s 1st African American Town Was Founded By An HBCU Couple In 1903

“Up, you mighty race, accomplish what you will.” – Marcus Garvey

“Frank attended Morehouse College and Fisk University. While in school he learned about homesteading and its requirements. While working as a teacher in Georgia, he married Ella Louise McGruder. Ella was also a well-educated teacher, a graduate from the Haines Institute.

After he was threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, Frank’s father encouraged him to move West. Frank’s father was a Buffalo Soldier during the Mexican-American War. As a child he heard stories about New Mexico from his father. Boyer and two of his students traveled to New Mexico Territory in 1896. He arrived in the Pecos River Valley in 1898 near the community of Roswell, where he worked in the courts. In 1901 Ella and their four children joined him in New Mexico.” – National Park Service

New Mexico jointed the United States as the 47th state in the United States on January 6, 1912. It is currently home to approximately 2.1 million people with almost 40,000 African Americans across the state’s population. In 1999, the state established the Office of African American Affairs that has been tasked with assisting the interests of the state’s African American population. Blackdom’s legacy is still profound among the residents of the state and still signifies the power of building institutions and community that look to empower people of African descent. New Mexico PBS in 2010 produced a documentary detailing the story of a time not so long ago and the impact it still carries today. The story of how an HBCU couple changed the landscape of the Southwest forever and added to the rich history of African Americans place throughout.