About this episode

This episode explores the significance of the Mullarky photo collection and its insights into 1930s Gallup, New Mexico.

Photos can obscure as much as they reveal. When we encounter historic photographs, it can feel like we've entered the past through a portal. But like contemporary photographs, what is left out of the frame is as interesting and puzzling as what we can observe. Still, the donation of historic photos to any archive can only help to add to our knowledge and expand the questions we need to ask. This is certainly the case for the William Thomas Mullarky photo collection at the New Mexico History Museum's Palace of the Governors Photo Archive. The Mullarky collection has never been accessible until recently and they provide unusual and unexpected windows into 1930s Gallup, New Mexico. For the Fall 2025 issue of El Palacio, University of New Mexico professor and labor historian, David Correia, wrote an article about the Gallup Coal Wars of 1933-35. Mullarky's photos of the events in Gallup at the time accompany Correia's words. For this episode of Encounter Culture, however, Correia talks about who Mullarky was and what makes his photos so out of the ordinary. Discover more: New Mexico History Museum Palace of the Governors Photo Archive William Thomas Mullarky Photographs of the Gallup…

People in this episode

Guest: David Correia

Topics covered

• historic photographs
• New Mexico history
• Gallup Coal Wars
• photo archives
• cultural narratives

Keywords

• Mullarky collection
• Gallup Coal Wars
• historic photographs
• New Mexico History Museum
• David Correia

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New Mexico History Museum, University of New Mexico

Books & works: El Palacio

Places: Gallup, New Mexico

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