Mela Leger-Bilingual Education Pioneer

The panel stands at La Loma on US-84, but the 2007 proposal behind it asked for the I-40 interchange near Colonias, the village where she read to her grandfather. Born in Villanueva in 1928 and sent to school speaking only Spanish, she taught, wrote curriculum and later trained teachers at the University of New Mexico. With her husband Ray, later a state senator, she helped write the 1973 Bilingual Multicultural Education Act, the first such state law in the country. The act the panel calls historic is New Mexico's, not the federal law of 1968.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Mela Leger-Bilingual Education Pioneer (1928-2006) At four, Manuelita de Atocha (Mela) Lucero Leger read Spanish language newspapers to her blind grandfather in Colonias. Although New Mexico's constitution protects Spanish-speaking students, school children were often punished for speaking Spanish. As a pioneer in bilingual education, Mela changed that by founding one of the nation's first bilingual multi-cultural schools, developing curriculum, training teachers and helping write the historic 1973 Bilingual Education Act. Official Scenic Historic Marker New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative The New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative was founded in 2005 by members of the New Mexico Women's Forum in a statewide effort to recognize women's contributions to New Mexico history on the state's Official Scenic Historic Markers. The Initiative ensures that women's diverse histories will be remembered and told, and will inspire and provide a guide for future generations. The 2006 Legislature funded the project.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Blue Hole — 28 mi
  A bell-shaped artesian spring in Santa Rosa, 81 feet deep and a steady 61 or 62 degrees, where divers from across the region learn to dive at altitude.

More markers nearby

• Trail of the Forty-Niners — 14 mi
• Edge of Plains — 14 mi
• Villanueva State Park — 17 mi
• Hogbacks — 25 mi