Editor’s note: The Journal continues “What’s in a Name?,” a twice a month column in which staff writer Elaine Briseño will give a short history of how places in New Mexico got their names.
Decades ago, the University of New Mexico’s longest serving president had a vision of Broadway in the desert. Tom Popejoy, left, with an associate on Oct. 14, 1966. (Journal File) It took political wrangling and the fortitude to endure a marathon fundraising campaign, but Tom Popejoy would see that vision built on university grounds. ................................................................ The world-class Popejoy Hall opened in October 1966, marking the state’s first true venue built for the performing arts.