Scholars will gather to discuss hidden Jewish culture in Catholic New Spain during a symposium to be held at Texas A&M’s Cushing Memorial Library and Archives Thursday and Friday (April 17-18). “The Crypto-Jews and the Inquisition in New Spain” symposium will examine the life of the Carvajal Family, one of the most prominent Crypto-Jewish families migrating to northern  New Spain in the 16th century. A series of sessions will cover the European roots of the Carvajal Family, life and times of Luis de Carvajal, expressions of Crypto-Jewish faith and the Carvajal legacy.

“The symposium seeks to contribute to the understanding of the complex, cultural heritage of the Hispanic Southwest with its seemingly contradictory roots in Catholic and Jewish culture and the influence of the Inquisition,” explained Gregory Cuellar, lecturer and curator of Hispanic Resources at Cushing Library, who organized the symposium.

Cushing Library aims to provide a greater appreciation and understanding of Hispanic culture in the borderlands region by hosting the conference, according to Cuellar.  “With our extensive Colonial Mexican collection, we want to place Texas A&M at the forefront of scholarly discourse on Crypto-Jewish Studies in the Southwest,” he added.

An exhibit on the Mexican Inquisition will be featured in Cushing Library’s Mayo-Thomas Room. The symposium is co-sponsored by Hillel Student Foundation, Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, Texas A&M University Libraries and the Diversity Committee, Office of Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity, Department of Hispanic Studies, Sterling C. Evans Library Endowment, and the Department of Multicultural Services.  All events are open to the public.  For more information, contact Gregory Cuellar at 845-1951.