At James Monroe Middle School located in northwest Albuquerque, seventh grade New Mexico history teacher Jon Stauss teaches lesser-known Black History Month lessons to his students.
“For Black History Month, my classes engage in a three-day unit on the town of Blackdom near modern day Roswell,” Stauss said. “It was established and settled by Black sharecroppers coming into the state from places like Georgia at the turn of the 20th century.”
Francis (Frank) Marion Boyer, the leader of the group who created Blackdom Townsite Company in 1903, began his search for an area to settle after being threatened by the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan in his home state of Georgia, according to the National Park Service…