Sara Calvo Hernandez – President of Club de España: "The impact of America on Spain and Spain on America".  The speaker will discuss the colonization of America from the Spaniards point of view, the impact on the motherland and vice versa. she has invited the Flamenco Dancer and a guitarist to entertain us during the Reception of the Turks so now we will have enterntainment. http://clubespanaelpaso.org/ceprtl/

Lic Filiberto Terrazas (Chihuahua) – La Voz de Los Siglos/The Voice of the Centuries:  Viewpoints from Mexico of the Camino Real.  His book by the same name “La Voz de los Siglos” will unveiled.  We must remember that Texas was only part of Mexico for 12 years, that is it......We were part of the Virreinato de Espana for centuries but part of Mexico for very little time.  Yet because of our strategic location we have a very unique history.

Dr. Resul Aksoy:  President, Turkish American Center of El Paso -  The Alliance of Cultures Initiative of Spain and Turkey through the United Nations.  The Turks, The Ottoman Empire control of Spain influenced many aspects of the Spanish world, their speech, architecture, cuisine, music and art.  The countries of Turkey and Spain have embarked on an initiative to heal a centuries old historical fracture through this UN initiative. http://raindropturkevi.org/raindrop-news/7.html

Tatiana Androsov: President and Executive Director of Thanksgiving Square – “How Texas became the home of the Texas, American, and World Thanksgiving.”  Thanksgiving Square is a Non-Profit organization that hosts numerous thanksgiving events in their downtown Dallas museum and temple.  Initiatives include the World of Thanksgivings in which they are working towards including our fantastic San Elizario event. http://www.thanksgiving.org/usa.html

Eugene Trujillo – Representative from Socorro and expert in the history of the Piro Indians.

Cruz Camargo – Manso Natives for Socorro del Sur Representative.

Arq. Ignacio Frausto – Member of the Sociedad de Historiadores de Ciudad Juárez and Professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez -  “From father to son, the Oñate Family”

Father Charles – Pastor at Ysleta Mission, the oldest living mission in the USA. “The challenges faced by Franciscans between the Protection of the Human Rights of the Natives, dictated by their faith, and the orders of the Spanish Crown"

Dr. Joseph P. Sánchez:  Director of the Spanish Colonial Research Center at the University of New Mexico –  "The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro: Juan de Oñate's Legacy and Our National Story".  He is also founder and editor of the Colonial Latin American Historical Review (CLAHR). Dr. Sánchez has also held professorships at the University of New Mexico and at the University of Arizona, Tucson, where he taught Colonial Latin American history. He was also director of the Mexican-American Studies and Research Center. He has also taught at Santa Ana College in Southern California and at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico. Throughout his career, he has researched archives in Spain, Mexico, France, Italy, and England, and has published several studies on the Spanish frontiers in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Alaska. Internationally recognized, in May 2000, he was awarded the Medalla de Acero al Mérito Histórico Capitán Alonso de León by the Sociedad Nuevoleonesa de Historia, Geografía y Estadística, Monterrey, Mexico, for his lifelong work in Colonial Mexican history. In April 2005, he was inducted into the prestigious knighthood order of the Orden de Isabel la Católica as Knight Commander by King don Juan Carlos of Spain. In 2006 he was appointed to the History Commission of the Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia that is headquartered in Mexico City and affiliated with the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.

Among his published books are: The Rio Abajo Frontier, 1540-1692 (1987); Pecos:  Gateway to Pueblos and Plains.  Joseph P. Sánchez and John Bezy, coeditors (1988); Spanish Bluecoats:  The Catalonian Volunteers in Northwestern New Spain, 1767-1810 (1990); Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá's Historia de la Nueva México, 1610:  A Critical and Annotated Spanish English Edition with Alfredo Rodríguez, Miguel Encinias, co-editors, 1992; The Aztec Chronicles: The True History of Christopher Columbus by Quilaztli of Texcoco (1995); Explorers, Traders, and Slavers: Forging the Old Spanish Trail, 1678-1850 (1997); Don Fernando Duran y Chaves's Legacy (1999); Memorias del Coloquio Internacional El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro; Joseph P. Sánchez and José de la Cruz Pacheco, co-editors, Mexico City, (2000); Exploradores, comerciantes y tratantes de esclavos: la forja de la Vieja Ruta Española, 1678-1850 (2001); co-authored by Joseph P. Sánchez, Bruce Erickson, and Jerry Gurulé, Between Two Countries:  A History of Coronado National Memorial (2007); Between two Rivers: The Atrisco Land Grant in Albuquerque’s History, 1691-1968 (2008); and, co-authored  by Joseph P. Sánchez and Larry D. Miller, Martineztown: A History of Land Tenure, 1823 – 1950 (2009).

Dr. Felix Almarez:  Professor of History – “1st Thanksgiving 1598:  The Evolution of Cultures through the Ages.”  Dr. Almarez received a B.A. and an M.A. from St. Mary's University and a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico. Dr. Almaraz's teaching and research reflects an engagement with processes within Hispanic communities. His main teaching areas include: The Spanish Borderlands, Texas, Colonial Latin America, Imperial and Modern Spain.

Rosa Guerrero:  Ms. Guerrero has been an El Paso institution of dance and education for many years -  “Tapestry”.  Rosa Ramirez Guerrero’s efforts as an artist, educator, dance historian and humanitarian enhanced her commitment to promoting cultural awareness and resulted in her developing the first intercultural programs within the El Paso Public schools in 1970 where she taught for 20 years. She was awarded a Life Membership with the Texas PTA and was the first Hispanic woman in El Paso to have a school, Rosa Guerrero Elementary, named in her honor. Ms. Guerrero founded and became the artistic director of the International Folklorico Dance Group. Her film “Tapestry,” on creating cultural harmony and understanding, was honored with a national award for documentary filmmaking.  She received many honors, including Outstanding Woman in the Arts (Women’s Political Caucus); Outstanding Woman Artist in El Paso (the Mexican American National Association); one of the Outstanding Hispanics in the Southwest (Adolph Coors, Co.); and Outstanding Hispanic of El Paso (the University of Texas at El Paso). Among her other awards are the Valley Forge Freedoms Foundation Award; the LULAC Arts and Humanities Award; the Human Relations Award (Texas State Teachers Association); and the Good Samaritan Award (Catholic Media Ministries of El Paso). Ms. Guerrero also received the Setoma Service to Mankind Award, the Arts Alliance Individual Dance Award, and the Adelante Mujer Hispana V Award for her continuous support of the advancement of Hispanic women.
She has been called “a tapestry of many cultures whose mission is to share this tapestry of cultural diversity, and how it is woven, with all people.”   Ms. Guerrero earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso and was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1997.  
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/library/archive/2006/news042906.asp