cabezadebaca

The Hispanic New Mexican writer is a native of La Liendre, New Mexico Territory. Enrolled at New Mexico Normal School, Cabeza de Baca joined the earliest pioneers in teaching when she earned a teaching credential in 1912. She taught school for twelve years while working towards a baccalaureate in domestic science and a master’s degree in pedagogy at the New Mexico State University. Devoted to the teaching profession, she helped women organize victory gardens and child-care centers during the Second World War. But a car accident forced Cabeza de Baca into a year long period of recuperation. Although she lost a leg in the accident, she continued to work and live an active life. Her first recipe books, Historic Cookery (1939) and The Good Life: New Mexico Traditions and Food (1949), placed traditional Hispanic recipes within a cultural context. But perhaps her best known publications is We Fed Them Cactus.