Marc Simmons (May 15, 1937 – September 14, 2023) was an American historian who specialized in the history of the U.S. state of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. As an

independent scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...

, he was credited by the

University of New Mexico Press The University of New Mexico Press (UNMP) is a university press at the University of New Mexico. It was founded in 1929 and published pamphlets for the university in its early years before expanding into quarterlies and books. Its administrative ...

with publishing at least 42 books and numerous articles on the history of his home state, with particular reference to the heritage of Native American, Spanish Colonial, and Mexican Colonial elements within this overall history.

Biography

Simmons emigrated from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

to New Mexico at an early age, pursuing a passionate attachment to the Land of Enchantment and its horse culture. He studied history at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

and ranch life from New Mexicans, and reporter Howard Houghton said Simmons “may have been the only working farrier around with a Ph.D.” In 1980, Simmons was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in U.S. history. From 2000 until 2016, Simmons wrote a weekly column for the

Santa Fe New Mexican ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'' or simply ''The New Mexican'' is a daily newspaper published in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dubbed "the West's oldest newspaper," its first issue was printed on November 28, 1849. Background The downtown offices for ''T ...

. Phyllis Morgan has published a biographical essay and

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

of Simmons's work. Simmons had, from 2008, donated his papers to an archive in the

Wittliff Collections The Wittliff Collections, located on the seventh floor of the Albert B. Alkek Library at Texas State University, was founded by William D. Wittliff in 1987. The Wittliff Collections include the Southwestern Writers Collection and the Southwester ...

Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

. Marc Simmons died in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

on September 14, 2023, at the age of 86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Marc 1937 births 2023 deaths American historians