COME VISIT US!
The New Mexico History Museum offers student visitors an opportunity to explore thousands of years of history, culture, and architecture in the nation’s oldest capital city. From Ancestral Pueblos to the birth of the atomic age, thousands of objects and photos bring to life the stories, and unique places that make New Mexico special.
We offer educator tours, worksheet activities, and a teacher resource called Expanding the Lens: Exploring our Perspectives. Below are the steps to schedule a visit and explore resources for lesson planning.
Scheduling a Visit to the New Mexico History Museum
Please fill-out this form to give us more information about your group and email us at NMHM.Education@dca.nm.gov to let us know after you have submitted it. You are asked to provide two options for days you can come. We will be back in touch to confirm which day/time we can schedule your visit and discuss tour details.
When you fill out the form please specify which option below is best for you.
- Option 1: Educator-led Tour & Timeline Worksheet
Our museum educators offer 30 minute tours and activities designed to spark curiosity. Following these sessions, students can break into smaller groups with chaperones and use their worksheets to guide their self-paced exploration of the museum. See the Tour Topic Options listed below. - Option 2: Self-guided Visit with Timeline Worksheet
Led and paced by teachers and chaperones using the museum's Timeline Worksheet. - Option 3: Self-guided Visit
Led and paced by teachers and chaperones.
“Telling New Mexico” – A chronological exhibition on New Mexico history that sweeps across thousands of years of history - from the state’s earliest inhabitants to the residents of today. Preview using the 360 tour.
- 1st Floor – First Peoples, Spanish I & II, Mexican, U.S. Territorial
- Mezzanine – Railroad
- Bottom Floor – Statehood to 21st Century
The Palace of the Governors – The oldest public building constructed by European settlers in the US, includes highlights from the Museum’s collection. The exhibition “Palace Through Time,” explores the Palace of the Governors as a dynamic place from its 17th-century origins to its current role as a symbol of New Mexico’s dynamic history. Using 3D models and historical documents, visitors can learn how the Palace has changed in response to technical innovation, functional needs, and aesthetics. The “Palace Seen and Unseen: A Convergence of History and Archaeology” draws from archeological and historical sources to provide a unique backdrop to tell its 400-year story.
The Palace Press - A working exhibit dedicated to preserving and promoting New Mexico’s printing and literary traditions–showcasing historic presses, a display based on the Estancia New Mexico Press, and a reconstruction of the Gustave Baumann studio.
Changing Exhibitions - Explore the ever-changing stories of New Mexico with rotating exhibitions at the New Mexico History Museum. Check out the current schedule of exhibitions.
The size of your group will determine the number of tours we provide. please choose the number of tours you will have based on your group size:
- If your group is smaller than 20 students, choose one tour (plan for at least one hour).
- If your group is between 20-30 students choose 2 tours and we will rotate students between the 2 tours (plan for at least one and a half hours).
- If your group is 30-50 students, choose 3 tours and we will rotate students between the 3 tours (plan for at least two hours).
The New Mexico History Museum offers engaging educator-led 30 minute tours that focus on 4th and 7th grade State Standards. Please select the tour(s) that best align with your lesson plans. Please Note:
- Consider the age and interests of your students when selecting a tour.
- Permanent exhibitions ("Telling New Mexico") offer a broader overview, while other tours provide a more focused experience.
Option A. First Peoples, Spanish Period and Post-Pueblo Revolt
Tour 1. Takes place in our permanent exhibition: “Telling New Mexico”
Tour 2. Takes place in the Palace of the Governors using the exhibition: “Palace Seen and Unseen”
Option B. The Mexican Period through the U.S. Territorial Period
Tour takes place in our permanent exhibition: “Telling New Mexico”
Option C. Statehood Period through the 21st Century
Tour takes place in our permanent exhibition: “Telling New Mexico”
Option D. Changing Exhibitions
To learn about our changing exhibitions, including “Miguel Trujillo and the Pursuit of Native Voting
Rights”, check out the current schedule of exhibitions.
Option E. Palace of the Governors
Tour takes place in the Palace of the Governors using the exhibition: “Palace Through Time”
The museum also provides optional activities for students of various grade levels to explore New Mexico history. Each 30 minute activity offers an interactive approach to learning. You are invited to select an activity that best suits the age, learning style, and historical concepts you wish to explore with your students.
Option F. History at your Fingertips (recommended for 1st-4th graders)
We've carefully curated a selection of artifacts from different eras in New Mexico's history. These
fascinating objects, laid out on accessible tables, invite students to get up close for a tactile
exploration of New Mexico history. Students will analyze objects, make connections, and draw
conclusions about the past.
Option G. The Human Timeline (recommended for 4th-8th graders)
Students actively participate in placing events within the correct historical period, fostering critical
thinking and communication skills. A Museum Educator facilitates students creating a human
timeline and leads a discussion by asking questions to reinforce understanding of the events
and their placement within the broader historical context.
Option H. Snapshot (recommended for 8th-12th graders)
Through role-playing students deepen their understanding and communication of complex themes.
Students explore historical concepts (such as power, equality, assimilation, policy, or sovereignty)
using a theater game called Snapshot. In groups of two, students first define 3 of these words, then
they create a vignette that shows the word they chose. The rest of the students guess which word
they are portraying. During the tours of the museum, students apply these concepts to the history
they are learning about.
New Mexico Historical Timeline Worksheet
The New Mexico Historical Timeline Worksheet fosters active learning by guiding students to connect museum exhibits with key historical events. This activity transforms students from passive observers into active learners as they explore the exhibitions as they connect museum objects to significant historical events.
The goal of this worksheet is to help students become familiar with:
- Historical timelines
- New Mexico historical periods
- Primary groups of people in each period
- Historical context and events
Students will be asked to:
- Choose objects of interest and place them in the correct historical period column
- Name and draw the object
- Circle the group that made or used it
- Choose the historical events associated with the object
Please print enough double-sided worksheets for all your students ahead of your visit to the museum:
- 3rd grade and younger (Spanish, English) Spanish PDF link coming soon
- 4th grade and up (Spanish, English) Spanish PDF link coming soon
We will provide clipboards and pencils.
Teacher Resource: Expanding the Lens: Exploring our Perspectives
This 43 page teacher planning document is helpful for educators anywhere in the state preparing to teach New Mexico History in the classroom. It also includes information about visiting the museum.
- English (link to PDF coming soon)
- Spanish (link to PDF coming soon)
Please Note When Visiting the Museum
- Enter the building on 113 Lincoln Avenue, and one of our educators will meet you in the lobby.
- There is no entrance fee for students, teachers, and chaperones.
- You must have one adult for every ten students, no exceptions.
- Unfortunately, we do not have an indoor location to eat lunch, however the Plaza is right across the street from us. The Cathedral Park and Convention Center courtyard are also options.
- We do not have a parking lot, but buses can drop off students in front of the Museum on Lincoln Ave and then park in the PERA parking lot across from the State Capital on Old Santa Fe Trail.
- If your group is larger than 20, we recommend dividing them into smaller groups to tour the museum. Please have these groups created BEFORE you arrive at the museum.
- While we understand some of you are coming from out of town, please plan to arrive 15 minutes early so you have time for students to put their coats/lunches in the cubbies and use the bathrooms before the tours.
- If you are more than 15 minutes late, please call us at 476-5200. If you are more than 30 minutes late, your educator tour will be cancelled but you can still tour the museum on your own or reschedule.
If you need more information please feel free to get in touch! (505) 476-5109, NMHM.Education@dca.nm.gov
