Dorothy Newkirk Stewart

In 1921, Dorothy accompanied her sister, Margretta, who had recently been elected president of the Nebraska League of Women Voters for her tireless work with the state’s suffragists, to New Mexico. Margretta had been invited to speak to the local electorate and was motoring down with her husband, Nebraska Senator Charles Dietrich.

Dorothy was eager to visit the Southwest, as word had spread about a burgeoning art community growing up around a state museum that had been built in 1917. Following her graduation from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, she was unsure of her future as an artist.

They motored down from Nebraska, leaving behind the dry, flat plains for the ancient cliff dwelings of Mesa Verde in Colorado and traveling south to Gallup and Albuquerque before arriving in the state’s capital Santa Fe in October. They dined in the historic Plaza at a women-run restaurant called the Blue Parrot, sitting outside in the warm desert sunshine while sheep roamed freely through the outdoor patios. Dorothy was thoroughly enchanted by the sight, and begged Margretta to buy the whole block.

(Glass negative El Zaguan on Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1900s. Courtesy of the Palace of the Governors. (NMHM/DCA) #031821)

After lunch, they navigated the oversized Cadillac down narrow cobblestone streets and forded a river to reach Canyon Road, which at the time was a dirt pathway leading up to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. They arrived at their accommodations, a one-story “mud” dwelling constructed of Spanish mission wood that, to their Eastern sensibilities, appeared crude at first. However, the spare beauty of the architecture, the inner garden, and the home’s interior soon revealed itself as quite beautiful.

94 Years Later

I am sitting on a filigreed iron bench in the garden at El Zaguan at 545 Canyon Road, the scent of roses perfuming the air. When I first arrived, I was given a tour of what today is the headquarters of the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, protection, and promotion of local buildings and the diverse cultural heritage of the area. On the buildings exterior, a bronze plaque is prominently displayed honoring Margretta and Dorothy’s contribution to the city.

They had purchased the 19th century Territorial-style building in 1928, a year before the Great Crash. An architect and artist friend from Philadelphia, Kate Chapman, to renovate the property. Originally designed as a boutique hotel for Eastern tourists, the lagging economy derailed their plans and it eventually became apartments for single women and artists.

Next door, remnants of Dorothy’s art studio and gallery remain. Seeing her initials embedded in the adobe wall, the same monogram that I had seen on her block prints twenty years earlier, filled me with a thrilling sense of wonder. Where was she leading me? Why had my family never have spoken of these pioneering women?