Women and the Shaping of Local Health Care
This exhibit that ran through 2025 shined a light on the vital role of women in health care throughout Grant County’s history and explored the stories of women as healers, foundation builders, adapters, and activists in shaping the region’s health care landscape.
The exhibit captured their groundbreaking contributions as practitioners of traditional, folk, and spiritual medicine, their pivotal role in establishing health care systems, their adaptability in the face of frontier challenges, and their advocacy for access to equitable health care. It also delved into women’s experiences as recipients of care, highlighting themes of institutional sexism and the fight for autonomy and self-determination.
Enhanced by public programs and personal accounts, this exhibit offered a powerful narrative of resilience, ingenuity, and impact.
“The Silver City Museum is dedicated to presenting honest, truthful reflections of the community that we serve,” museum curator Javier Marrufo stated. “As such, we really depend upon community-based research in collaboration with local residents, ensuring that we remain reflective of who we are and who we were. By grounding our research in lived experiences, we become more inclusive through respect for the knowledge and lived experiences of the community.”
In keeping with the idea of creating an exhibit that reflects and engages the larger community, Marrufo invites anyone with a regionally-related health care story, object, or photograph to share to contact him via email at curator@silvercitymuseum.org.
Don’t miss this tribute to the women who have shaped health care in our community.