An Afternoon with Pedro Menendez The Threads of Memory Lecture Series

Join New York actor Chaz Mena for a Chautauqua performance as Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spanish Florida’s first governor, at 2 pm Sunday, Nov. 7, in the History Museum Auditorium. Part of the Threads of Memory Lecture Series, this event is free with museum admission (Sundays free to NM residents).

Mena is a New York-based actor who tours the country with two pieces underwritten by the Florida Humanities Council: Charla, A Chat with José Martí and Menéndez: Claiming La Florida. Mena, who played Judge Marc Montaldo on the NBC drama Law & Order, has become an amateur historian on the first governor of Spanish Florida, in part by reading his 16th-century letters to Spain's King Philip II.

"Menendez is important in a lot of ways: cartography, geography," Mena said. "He founded six settlements and is responsible for making the seas outside of Spain safer for commerce. I have accepted a lifelong commitment to learning about … the Menendez expedition and how it played out."

The lecture series accompanies the U.S. debut of the exhibit The Threads of Memory: Spain and the United States (El Hilo de la Memoria: España y los Estados Unidos), which features 138 rare documents, maps, illustrations and paintings – many of which have never been displayed outside of Spain.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Fundación Rafael del Pino and, along with the Archivo General de Indias (General Archive of the Indies), is co-organized with the State Corporation for the Spanish Cultural Action Abroad (Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior, or SEACEX), in collaboration with Spain’s Ministries for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Culture. The exhibition and lecture series are supported locally by the city of Santa Fe, BBVA Compass Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Heritage Hotels, Santa Fe University of Art and Design and the Palace Guard.

Upcoming in the Threads of Memory Lecture Series:

Friday, Nov. 12, 6 pm: “Scientists in New Spain: 18th-Century Expeditions,” lecture by California historian Iris Engstrand.

Sunday, Nov. 21, 2 pm: “Murder, Martyrdom, and the Struggle for La Florida: Rethinking Spanish Florida’s Mission History, 1565-1606,” lecture by Florida historian J. Michael Francis.

Sunday, Dec. 19, 2 pm: “Navio Quebrado: The Wreck of La Belle and the Failed French Colony in the Southwest,” lecture by maritime archaeologist Eric Ray.

Sunday, Jan. 2, 2 pm: “Kissin' Cousins: The Spanish Vihuela and the Modern Classical Guitar," performance by composer, guitarist and educator Greg Schneider.

Sunday, Jan. 9, 2 pm: “Tejiendo el Hilo: Weaving the Threads of History,” lecture by State Historian Rick Hendricks.