Living history museums such as Sturbridge Village, Mystic Seaport, Colonial Williamsburg and El Rancho de las Golondrinas recreate historical settings with costumed docents to simulate a past time period. There are however other entertaining ways to learn about history.
María Josefina Montoya Romero for example.
According to her Wiki website Josefina® (as she prefers) was “a Mexican girl living on a rancho (ranch settlement) fifteen miles away from Santa Fe during the time when the [New Mexican] territory was under Mexican rule, only a few years after Mexican independence from Spanish colonialism. Ever since Mamá died, [the summer Josefina turned eight in July of 1823] Josefina and her sisters have bravely met the challenges of the rancho without her. As they watch the new Americano traders arrive from the East, they struggle to hold on to the old ways their beloved mother taught them.”
Some of you perhaps noticed the “®” after Josefina’s name. This is not the cattle brand of the rancho where she lived. It is instead a “registered trademark symbol” indicating in this case that Josefina is a doll in the American Girls Collection by Mattel, the makers of Barbie – also with an ®.
Both toys have a series of books about them. Valerie Tripp, the author of the Josefina stories and Jean-Paul Tibbles, their illustrator did their research at las Golondrinas. And the museum plays off that connection with a guided tour that brings “Josefina's story to life against the backdrop of our historic buildings, exploring the traditions, cultures, and landscapes that shaped her world.”
Like Barbie the Josefina doll of course comes with her own “clothing accessories” – among them her Nightgown, Festival Outfit, Navidad Outfit, Desert Primrose Top and Indigo Skirt. Varying degrees of authenticity – but the American Girl dolls are a curious mix of historicity and youthful imagination anyway. So dressing the part just furthers the cause.
Josefina Montoya was introduced to the world in 1997. And, with no reason to know about her for all these years – we didn’t. For many others however Josefina was both a way of learning and an important part of their personal history. As we found out this past summer.
In August the two of us and one other person, M, were volunteering in “Golondrinas Placita” the 1700s section of the museum – a courtyard surrounded by a rectangular, multi-roomed Spanish hacienda. It was in the low 90s and incessantly sunny – a normal summer day in Santa Fe. Most guests dress for the conditions – tee shirts, shorts, hiking shoes, baseball caps. We were of course garbed in period-appropriate costumes – long-sleeve white cotton blouse, long black cotton skirt & straw hat (M) and white, cotton, collarless, billowy-sleeved shirt, cotton pants & straw hat (J.) No matter the weather, you gotta dress the part. Actors will tell you the proper costume helps them get into character. At las Golondrinas we do not play any particular individual. The right outfit does however put us into that Nuevo México state of mind – as well as adding a veneer of authority to the words that come out of our mouths.
On this day a group made up of a woman and man late 40s/early 50s and three 20-something women walked into the Placita. All five wore white long-sleeved tops (his a mock turtleneck.) Mom had on a long, loose white skirt, dad chino slacks and the siblings black, flowing maxi skirts. A good-looking, physically fit quintet and possibly the “best dressed family ever” to visit las Golondrinas – if it were not a normal 90 degree, sunny summer day in Santa Fe.
They split up one, one and three on entering the courtyard and the young women gravitated to the weaving and spinning rooms. “These rooms show how the Spanish settlers carded, spun and wove wool to make rugs for the floor, blankets for the bed and horses, and clothing— including sarapes (blankets or shawls worn by men) and rebozos (shawls worn by women). These woven goods and sheep were the most important commodity exported from New Mexico.” (Golondrinas Guide Book) Marsha was on duty there and asked as we always do, “have you been here before?” They excitedly told her that they all had been here as younger girls, taken the Josefina Tour, and now were back eagerly relearning the story of wool, weaving and women in 18th century New Mexico and enthusiastically re-embracing their earlier experiences. They continued to show the same enthusiasm throughout their conversation with Marsha. After leaving that section the trio drifted off to revisit other favorite spots – and Marsha filled M and Jim in on their backstory.
Sometime later the “Josefinas” (as we were now calling them) entered what is known as the “Servants and Captives” Room – the sleeping/working quarters of that eponymous group of historical residents of the rancho. Jim followed them in. The three women had not previously seen this space and he quickly determined that the story of Colonial slavery did not really fit in with their search for remembrances of things past. They thanked him nicely, exited the room and continued out of Golondrinas Placita and on to other parts of the ranch.
Jim then encountered the mother standing hesitantly at the entrance to the unoccupied chapel room. He invited her in and explained that the building was a museum recreation of an 18th century New Mexican Catholic village church. As he sometimes does in order to understand a visitor’s knowledge base Jim asked if she was familiar with Catholicism. She quickly replied “I am Palmarian Catholic,” and she handed him a business card with contact information for her church. They spoke a little bit about the chapel and she seemed quite taken by the simplicity and emotion of the paintings and statues (retablos and bultos.) After thanking him she met up with her family who were in the courtyard and they all left the grounds together.
Jim related his conversation and showed the card to Marsha and our co-volunteer. Neither had heard of the religion. Google and its trusted friend Wikipedia of course had.
“The Palmarian Church claims to be the exclusive One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ.” The impetus for its founding was an alleged series of late 20th century messages from an apparition of the Virgin Mary “favourable to a traditionalist Catholic pushback to the liberalising changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council ... In 1975, the Palmarians founded a religious order known as the Carmelites of the Holy Face and had a number of priests ordained … After the death of Pope Paul VI in 1978, Clemente Domínguez claimed that he had been mystically crowned Pope of the Catholic Church by Jesus Christ and was to reign as Pope Gregory XVII.” The church is headquartered in the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Crowned Mother of Palmar in Andalusia, Spain. As of 2016, there were 32 bishops, 60 priests, 40 nuns and approximately 2,000 nonclericals with chapels around the world, typically in the homes of lay members – in the USA at Arkdale WI, Chicago IL, Livingston Manor NY, Sonoma CA, Tacoma WA & Yelm WA. This family was from Washington state.
Wikipedia also told us that the “controversial Palmarian Catholic Church” plays a major role in Origin, a 2017 mystery thriller novel by DaVinci Code author Dan Brown. “An evil, Catholic-adjacent cult” is always “one of Brown's signature themes,” according to New Republic magazine.
Marsha got the 491 page book from our local library. Jim (a much slower reader) was set to follow suit when they found a copy of it for $2.00 in the Friends of the Library book sale allowing him to read it at his own pace. Clearly a sign of some kind from somewhere.
Meanwhile Marsha was thinking “this is awfully cult-like. I wonder if they have a dress code.”
And they do.
“FOR WOMEN: The dress at least four inches below the knees; not close fitting; not transparent; the sleeves long; not cut low at the neck. The legs covered with stockings, from 14 years of age, while those who are younger will at least wear socks. Trousers are forbidden. FOR MEN: Clothing that is dignified and decent (long sleeves, shirt buttoned at the top, and so forth).
Deuteronomy, 22, 5; ‘A woman shall not be clothed with man's apparel; neither shall a man use woman's apparel. For he that does these things is abominable before God.’”(palmarianchurch.org)
As to our concerns about the appropriateness of the clothing for a summer day in Santa Fe. They also have that covered, so to speak.
“You might say, ‘but I feel hot!’ You know how to put up with the heat when you want. Remember the words of Saint Dominic Savio: ‘If you cannot bear the heat of summer, how will you bear that of Hell which you are out looking for?’” (Apostolic Letter Palmarian Pope Peter III)
No matter the weather, you gotta dress the part. Especially if you are actually living it, rather than just pretending to.
Our research also tells us that Mattel offered several “gift sets” with Barbie and Ken together with the crew of the Star Trek Ship USS Enterprise. But no such character co-mingling with the American Girl figures. Too bad. We’re certain Señor Spock would be saying, “vivir mucho y prosperar Josefinas!”
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