Gilbert, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca, 1898-1991

Agricultural extension agent and author born near Las Vegas, N.M. in 1894. Served as an extension agent for more than 30 years, mostly in New Mexico. Died in Albuquerque, N.M. in 1991.

Fabiola C de Baca was a noted author, teacher, home economist, and extension agent. She was born in La Liendre, New Mexico in 1894 and died in 1991.

Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert in front of rural New Mexico schoolhouse. Part of the Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert Pictorial Collection PICT 000-603 (Box 1, Folder 1).

Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert, agricultural extension agent and author, was born into a prominent ranching family near Las Vegas, New Mexico, on May 16, 1894.* Her mother died when she was four; consequently, she was brought up by her father, Don Graciano Cabeza de Baca and her "very Spanish" paternal grandmother, Estefanita Delgado Cabeza de Baca.

Gilbert attended high school in Las Vegas and received her bachelor's degree in pedagogy from New Mexico Normal (Highlands) in 1921. In 1929, she received a B.S. degree in home economics from NMSU and proceeded to join the Agricultural Extension Service. She served as an extension agent for more than 30 years, mostly in New Mexico. She was extension agent for Santa Fe County from 1929-1947, then served the next 12 years as agent-at-large for 7 northern New Mexico counties. She went to Mexico in 1950 as a representative of the United Nations, where she set up demonstration centers among the Tarascan Indians and trained extension agents from Central and South America.

She had a deep respect for traditional ways. As a writer, she often tried to link the present with events of the past, providing a popular history of people and places. The family stories, told by her father and grandmother were incorporated into her writings. Three of her most renowned publications are Historic Cookery, The Good Life, and We Fed Them Cactus. She won many awards and participated in many community organizations. After her retirement in 1959, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert continued to deliver lectures and worked as a trainer and consultant for the Peace Corps. She died in Albuquerque on October 14, 1991.

*There has been some confusion concerning her birth date, however the 1894 date has been verified orally with her niece, and this is also the date that appears in her obituary.