{{short description|American historian}} {{Infobox person | name = Erna Fergusson | image = Erna Fergusson.png | birth_date = {{Birth date|1888|01|10}} | birth_place = Albuquerque, New Mexico | death_date = {{Death date|1964|07|30}} | death_place = Albuquerque, New Mexico | education = Bachelor of Pedagogy, University of New Mexico, 1912; Masters in History, Columbia University, 1913 | occupation = Writer and historian | notable_works = Dancing Gods (1931) Mexican Cookbook (1934) | father = Harvey Butler Fergusson | relatives = Harvey Fergusson (brother) }}
'''Erna Fergusson''' (January 10, 1888 – July 30, 1964<ref name= "multiple">Remely, D. (1969) "Erna Fergusson", Austin, Texas: Stech-Vaughn Company.</ref><ref name= "web">Sullivan, M.A. (2004). "Erna Fergusson", New Mexico Office of the State Historian. http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=546 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718220910/http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=546 |date=2011-07-18 }}</ref>) was a writer, historian, and storyteller, who documented the culture and history of [[New Mexico]] for more than forty years.
== Early life ==
Erna was born to a wealthy and well-known family. Her mother was Clara Mary Huning, the daughter of a very successful merchant by the name of [[Franz Huning]].<ref name= "multiple"/><ref name= "web"/> He was an investor of real estate and owned and operated a downtown mercantile store and flourmill.<ref name= "multiple"/><ref name= "web"/> Erna Fergusson's father was [[Harvey Butler Fergusson]], a prominent lawyer in [[White Oaks, New Mexico|White Oaks]], New Mexico. It was later in 1883 that he moved to [[Albuquerque]], where he became friends with Franz Huning. Four years later in 1887 Clara Mary Huning and Harvey Fergusson were married.<ref name= "multiple"/><ref name= "web"/> One of Erna's brothers was [[Harvey Fergusson]], a well-known novelist.<ref name="multiple" />
Erna, the eldest of four children, grew up in [[La Glorieta]], which was her primary residence in New Mexico. Between 1897 and 1899 Erna lived in [[Washington, D.C.]] while her father served as a delegate to the [[55th United States Congress]]. In 1906 Erna graduated from Central High School in Albuquerque.<ref name= "multiple"/><ref name= "web"/> Prior to graduating, she did preparatory work at the [[University of New Mexico]] (1904) and the Collegiate School in Los Angeles (1905).<ref name= "multiple"/><ref name= "web"/> She began teaching in the Albuquerque public schools while at the same time furthering her education. In 1912 she graduated from UNM with a Bachelor of Pedagogy Degree. A year later Erna completed her master's degree in history from [[Columbia University in New York]]. After teaching a while in Chatham hall in Virginia she decided to return home and continue teaching in Albuquerque.<ref name= "multiple"/>
== Career ==
Throughout her years Erna had various other occupations. During [[World War I]] she took a job with the Red Cross as the home service secretary and State Supervisor for New Mexico. After the war she became a reporter for the ''[[Albuquerque Herald]]'' and the New Mexico Highway Journal, writing various articles regarding her hometown.<ref name="multiple" /> She was commissioned in 1926 by ''[[The Century Magazine|Century Magazine]]'' to write “Redskins to Railroads” and “From Rodeo to Rotary” two of her pieces, which many years later along with other short works became published.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Beautiful swift fox: Erna Fergusson and the modern southwest|last=Gish|first=Robert Franklin|publisher=Texas A & M University Press|year=1996|isbn=9780890967195|location=College Station|oclc=44964640}}</ref> While at the ''Herald'', Erna also began a touring company alongside friend Ethel Hickey. The touring company they founded in 1921, Koshare Tours, provided guests with tours of the southwest, introducing them to native cultures.<ref name="multiple" /> Koshare Tours were so successful that [[Fred Harvey (entrepreneur)|Fred Harvey]], a famous and well to do western hotel and restaurateur, bought the touring company and hired Erna Fergusson to direct the new endeavor—Indian Detour Service.<ref name= "multiple"/>
In 1931 Erna Fergusson published her first book ''Dancing Gods.''<ref name=":0" /> In this book she describes Native American dances of the [[Puebloans|Pueblos]], [[Hopi]]s, [[Navajo]]s, and [[Apache]]s that non-Native people were allowed to see, including the [[Zuni people|Zuni]] [[Shalako]] dances and masks, which in 1990 were closed to non-natives.<ref name="Gish 1992 361–372">{{Cite journal |last=Gish |first=Robert F. |date=1992 |title=Dancing Gods: Erna Fergusson's Travels toward Exoticism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1185797 |journal=American Indian Quarterly |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=361–372 |doi=10.2307/1185797 |jstor=1185797 |issn=0095-182X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Her descriptions of the dances were also aided by the work of sixteen New Mexico artists.<ref name="Gish 1992 361–372"/>
Several histories and numerous travel books followed after her success with ''Dancing Gods''. In her 1934 book, "Mexican Cookbook", Fergusson was perhaps the first to correct the English-speakers notion that "frijoles refritos" meant "[[refried beans]]", but the correction never reached the popular consciousness.<ref>Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lbghar-Friedman] 1999 (p. 268)</ref>
In 1936 she published an article criticizing a bill sponsored by Senator [[Holm O. Bursum|Holm Bursum]] attempting to settle land claims of non-Native people on Pueblo lands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fergusson |first=Erna |date=1936 |title=Crusade from Santa Fé |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25114818 |journal=The North American Review |volume=242 |issue=2 |pages=376–387 |jstor=25114818 |issn=0029-2397}}</ref> In 1948 her article, "Navajos: Whose Problem," she criticized the lack of government investment in Navajo communities, even though Navajo people were taxed for commodities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fergusson |first=Erna |date=2017-05-05 |title=Navajos: Whose Problem? |url=https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmq/vol18/iss1/7 |journal=New Mexico Quarterly |volume=18 |issue=1}}</ref>
In 1943 Erna Fergusson was awarded as an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the [[University of New Mexico]]. In 1947 she helped found the Old Town Historical Society, which later became the Albuquerque Historical Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Albuquerque Historical Society records, 1940-2008, bulk 1982-2002 |url=https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/57700233 |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=researchworks.oclc.org |language=en}}</ref> In 1958 Theta Sigma Phi, the national women's journalistic fraternity, awarded her an honorary membership in the Albuquerque Alumni chapter.<ref name=":0" /> She died in Albuquerque on June 30, 1964 (age 76).<ref name=":0" />
==Legacy==
Erna Fergusson can be best depicted as a New Mexico travel writer of the 1930s, honing the two techniques of oral interview and conversational prose style; she was a part of the Southwestern Renaissance,<ref name= "Dance">"Dancing Gods: Erna Fergusson's Travels Toward Exoticism". (1992), ''American Indian Quarterly'', 16,13.</ref> and greatly contributed to the historiography of New Mexico. Her writings were well received during her lifetime, and she was an advocate for the preservation of Southwestern and Native American cultures. However, her works have more recently been criticized as Anglo-centric and patronizing to Native American and other cultures.<ref name=":0" />
Erna Fergusson was a supporter of libraries, having spoken at a conference in support of libraries in the southwest,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fergusson |first=Erna |date=1955 |title=A writer's view of Southwest libraries |journal=Libraries in the Southwest: Their Growth, Strengths, Needs, in Papers Presented by a Conference of Librarians and Writers Co-sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, Occidental College, and the California Library Association, and Held at Occidental College, April 16, 1955. |pages=3–11}}</ref> and participated on the Ernie Pyle Memorial Committee that opened a library in his previous house. In 1966 the [[Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System]] opened a branch library bearing her name.<ref>{{Cite news|title=A new chapter: [Final Edition]|last=Steinberg|first=David|date=Nov 23, 2003|newspaper=[[Albuquerque Journal]]}}</ref>
==Works== *''Dancing Gods'' (1931)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erna Fergusson |url=http://archive.org/details/dancinggods0000erna_u7q1 |title=Dancing Gods |date=1931 |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> *''Fiesta in Mexico'' (1934) *''Mexican Cookbook'' (1934)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fergusson |first=Erna |url=http://archive.org/details/mexicancookbook0000ferg |title=Mexican cookbook |date=1999 |publisher=Santa Fe, N.M.: Rydal Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-585-18773-0}}</ref> *''Guatemala'' (1937)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erna Fergusson |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.87736 |title=Guatemala |date=1949}}</ref> *''Venezuela'' (1939)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erna Fergusson |url=http://archive.org/details/venezuela0000erna |title=venezuela |date=1939 |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> *''Our Southwest'' (1940)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erna Fergusson |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.60250 |title=Our South West |date=1946}}</ref> *''Our Hawaii'' (1942) *''Chile'' (1943) *''Cuba'' (1946)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fergusson |first=Erna |url=http://archive.org/details/cuba0000ferg |title=Cuba |date=1946 |publisher=New York, A.A. Knopf |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> *''Murder & Mystery in New Mexico'' (1948) *''Hawaiian Islands'' (1950)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fergusson |first=Erna |url=http://archive.org/details/hawaiianislands0000unse_h6r8 |title=Hawaiian Islands |date=1958 |publisher=Grand Rapids, Fideler Co |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> *''Hawaii'' (1950)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fergusson |first=Erna |url=http://archive.org/details/hawaiiferg00ferg |title=Hawaii |date=1967 |publisher=Grand Rapids, Fideler Co |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> *''New Mexico: A Pageant of Three Peoples'' (1951)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fergusson |first=Erna |url=http://archive.org/details/newmexicopageant0000ferg |title=New Mexico: a pageant of three peoples |date=1964 |publisher=New York: Knopf |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> *''Mexico Revisited'' (1955)
==Notes== <references/>{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Erna}} [[Category:20th-century American historians]] [[Category:1964 deaths]] [[Category:1888 births]] [[Category:American women historians]] [[Category:20th-century American women writers]] [[Category:Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico]]