Julia Brown Asplund made significant contributions to the women’s suffrage movement in New Mexico between 1911 and 1920. Julia first came to New Mexico as a professionally trained librarian at the University of New Mexico and later served as the first woman University Regent.
Event Honoring Julia Brown Asplund
LWV New Mexico and LWV Central New Mexico celebrated Womens Equality Day on August 26, 2024 by dedicating a National Votes for Women Trail Marker to honor Julia Brown Asplund. Her Trail Marker is located on the UNM campus near the site of the first library at historic Hodgin Hall. LWVCNM board member Jeanne Logsdon organized the event, and LWVCNM president Starlyn Brown introduced the dedication ceremony. Associate Dean Amy Jackson, UNM College of Libraries and Learning Services, described Julia’s life and contributions, and the City of Albuquerque presented a plaque recognizing August 26 as “Julia Brown Asplund Day.” A program was distributed during the event. A video of the dedication can be viewed here.
Below – Event organizer and LWVCNM board member Jeanne Logsdon and featured speaker Professor Cathleen Cahill.
Above – Cathleen Cahill, professor of middle-American history at Pennsylvania State University, presents “One of Our 50 Is Missing: Suffrage History in New Mexico and Why It Matters.”
About the National Votes for Women Trail
The National Votes for Women Trail is a project of the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (NCWHS), established to support the preservation of sites that bear witness to women’s participation in American history. The Trail was initiated to recognize champions of women’s suffrage and significant places where suffrage events occurred. As of late 2024, the Trail database has 2,440 people, groups, and places, including 16 entries from New Mexico suffrage history.
The Julia Brown Asplund Trail Marker is one of a select group funded by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. In New Mexico there are three Trail Markers in this group.