Miss Elizabeth Garrett
Elizabeth Garrett

Miss Elizabeth Garrett

Elizabeth Garrett (1884-1947) was a nationally acclaimed soprano and composer. She wrote the songs "El Paso" and "O, Fair New Mexico", state song of New Mexico. Garrett had been rendered blind almost from birth by an excessive application of blue vitrol (a copper sulfate chemical) to her eyes. Blue vitrol was used to prevent infection, a common practice in those days. Elizabeth received a high school education and basic training at the Texas School for the Blind in Austin and became a qualified voice and piano teacher. She soon found herself performing in respected theaters in Chicago and New York. She was called the "Songbird of the Southwest", because of her compositions about the far-west land of New Mexico. The New Mexico Legislature was so impressed by her song "O, Fair New Mexico", that they made it the state song in 1917. Her father was Pat Garrett, sheriff of Lincoln County, NM. During that time, he captured and killed Billy the Kid. He served as sheriff in New Mexico before Garrett was appointed El Paso Collector of Customs in 1901. The family stayed in El Paso for 5 years, before they returned to Dona Ana County.

Area: Central / Downtown

Collection: Stout-Feldman Studio Photographs

Source: University of Texas at El Paso Library - Special Collections Department

Reference ID: PH074-1610-2

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Chicano Power! A Force for Change & Progress in El Paso

This exhibition focuses on the rise of the Chicano Civil Rights ...

Proclamation Honoring Judge Alvarez

After serving our community for nearly 30 years as Judge of ...

Judges Sue Kurita and Javier Alvarez

After serving our community for nearly 30 years as Judge of ...

Judges Marlene Gonzalez and Javier Alvarez

After serving our community for nearly 30 years as Judge of ...

Judge Javier Alvarez and Judge-Elect Melissa Baeza

After serving our community for nearly 30 years as Judge of ...

Proclamation Honoring Judge Javier Alvarez

After serving our community for nearly 30 years as Judge of ...

The HolguinCAD Champion

Dr. An Wang 1920-2000: Dr. An Wang was Founder and CEO of Wang ...

Pioneer of the Desktop CAD System

In 1973, Holguin Corporation of El Paso TX announces HolguinCAD, ...

The Maestro of El Paso

Maestro Abraham Chavez, Jr. (1927 - 2000). "Maestro Chavez is ...

home.search_collection