Katherine supervises a student making a sketch of the church.

In 1955 artist Diego Rivera visited Álamos, sent this letter to María Félix, and sketched her house at it looked at that time. Two years earlier María posed at the front of that house.

History Association Pioneers

Álamos History Association Memorials

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Beverly Krucek

Founded in 1994, the Álamos History Association has continually worked to document and preserve the rich history of this community, and we are greatly indebted to the vision and dedication of Beverly J. Krucek. She was chosen that first year to lead the organization, organizing presentations and field trips to share the past events of Álamos, Sonora, and Mexico with the foreign community. She continued her active involvement in the History Association until her death in 2014 at the age of 88.

Bev and her huband, John, bought a house in Álamos in the 1980s, and in the 1990s, she opened an art gallery, featuring the works of international artists, in a historic home on the main plaza. In her spare time she read all that she could about the history of her adopted home, taking voluminous notes and filling file drawers with information on Álamos and Sonora. She reached out to the members of historic families, asking them to share their family histories with the foreign community. She worked with the Department of Archives at City Hall, and invited guest speakers to discuss the historical events which shaped the Mexico of today. Her dream was a create a research library to house all the documents she collected, and for this library to become a beacon of light to researchers nationally and abroad. Our History Association became the focus of her life!

Health issues forced her to curtail many activities during her final years, but she directed the transformation of AHA from a "club" to an "association" with the library that had always been her dream. For nearly 30 years she organized and directed association events, and we are deeply indebted to her tireless effort and enthusiasm.

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Leila Gillette

Leila Gillette's daughter Pam Price wrote this about Leila: "Our mother, Leila Shockley Gillette, lived a life of curiosity and wonder. T hese qualities never left her. They brought her to Mexico. She loved to learn, and this engagement kept her young at heart."

When Leila retired and bought a house in Álamos in the late 1980s, her sense of wonder led her to research the untold stories of this beautiful community. Who were the people who lived here? Who built these elegant structures? What created its centuries of wealth, and why did it all vanish in the first decades of the 20th Century? Her sense of wonder took her to the archives in city hall, to historical records in Hermosillo, to the church documents dating back to 1685, and to multipile interviews with residents whose families had live here for generations.

The result of her research was a book, "The Stately Homes of Álamos," first published in 1989 and followed by four separate editions. Due to her research, thousands have learned about the architecture, the historical events, and the stories behind the colonial homes in the center of Álamos. It was only natural that in 1994 she would be one of the five charter members of the Álamos History Association, and that through the Association she would continue to research our community and share her knowledge with both permanent residence and the many tourists who came to visit.

It was Leila's dream for our History Association to publish a book covering as much as possible about Almos, including the indigenous groups who lived here before the Spanish came, the the rise and fall of the wealth from silver, the historical events of Mexico in which Álamos was important, and the unique environment of the municipio. While this book was not published in her lifetime, the History Association granted her wish with ther 137-page "Guia para Visitar el Álamos Histórico" in 2018, followed with an expanded edition in 2022. Leila Gillette's legacy carries on.

Steve McKelvy

Steve McKelvy, with his wife, Donna, bought a house on Juárez Street in 2011, and he immediately became an active member of the Álamos History Association. He and Donna had been living in Cabo San Lucas, and he had a strong interest in Mexican history—partly because his own family traced it roots back to the state of Durango. He immediately researched the history of the house he purchased, and discovered that in the 1950s it was the home of John Hilton, who wrote "Sonora Sketchbook.

His first research in Álamos history centered on the historic gold and silver mines in the municipio, about which he gave several presentations. He served AHA as moderator, directing and planning the meetings for President Bev Krucek, then joined the board and spent many weekends taking pictures and videos of the indigenous "pascolas" celebrating Catholic feast days. With fellow board member Trini Rangel, Steve documented Pascola events and discussed the idea of AHA hosting one of these celebrations.

Perhaps his greatest contribution to the History Association, though, was his research related to the relationship of Alamos to both that De Anza and Rivera expeditions—which established the Presidio in San Francisco (1776) and the city of Los Angeles (1781) . His video of the Anza trip was displayed in the Álamos museum and honored by the cultural Institute of Sonora. Unfortunately, his life was cut short by a heart attack in 2023.

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Ellen Price

Ellen visited Álamos for a few days in the 1970s, and from that time she knew this was a special place. She encouraged her mother to buy a home here, and in the 1990s she purchased her home in the barrio La Campana where she lived until her passing in 2026. Her professional career in the United States and Canada was at the university level, but history was also her passion.

Ellen became involved in the history association within the first year of its existence. Over the years, she served as program director and treasurer, and she researched topics on the history of Mexico and shared this information with regular presentations. She researched the life of Álamos native son Félix Maria Zuologa, who rose to Mexican political prominence in the 1850s. Her presentations covered many aspects of the Mexican revolution, and she was instrumental in beginning a study of Mexican presidents serving after independence from Spain in 1821. When the History Association's' "Guía para Visitar el Álamos Historico" was published in 2018, Ellen wrote a chapter on the history of our church, La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción. In addition to details about the church construction in the 1787, Ellen provided information on the architecture and uniqueness of the structure.

When the history Association board of directors was formed after the organization's transformation from a "club," Ellen was elected to the board and served in that capacity the remainder of her life. Even with the mobility issues of her latter years, she participated in our meetings, our field trips, and our special events. We are much richer as an organization because of Ellen's energy and expertise.

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Diane Carpenter

Diane Carpenter lived a life of adventure. She studied music in college, but in the 1950s she left her dream of a classical music career and, with her husband, homesteaded land in Alaska. She later became a hotel owner, a university professor, the mayor of Bethel, Alaska, an author, and a champion for the rights of Alaska's native citizens.

Diane Carpenter visited Alamos in 1978 to spend Christmas with her son, who was here in Álamos on an exchange program. She and her husband had planned to take a cruise after the visit, but within three days she bought a house and Álamos became her "home away from home" until the early 2000s, when she retired and lived here year-round.

Diane's beautiful home on Guadalupe Hill became a social center where people from many different backgrounds gathered to share their lives and find out what they had in common. While Diane was eager to share her life story, she was equally interested in listening as others shared their lives with her with her. The last two years before her death in 2025, Diane published a book on her experiences of living in Alaska and was working on a second book when she passed away.

Over the years, Diane gave many presentations to the History Association, and her academic training helped to make them enjoyable and entertaining. She also helped our organization move from a "club" to an "association," giving advice on the legal hurdles of being a nonprofit in both the United States and Mexico. She was a dear friend to those in our community in need, delivering food and raising funds for people who could not help themselves. Diane was a beacon of light to all.

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