Deborah C. Slaney

Deborah C. Slaney is an independent author and Curator of History Emerita from the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. Ms. Slaney holds a B.A. in Southwestern Anthropology from the University of Arizona, and a Master of Liberal Studies/Museum emphasis from the University of Oklahoma. Her 41-year museum career allowed her to experience the incredible wealth of collections held by our nation’s public museums, and help to exhibit, interpret, preserve, and write about them. During her career she worked for the Arizona State Museum, National Park Service/Western Archeological and Conservation Center, Anniston Museum of Natural History, Heard Museum, and Albuquerque Museum.

Deb’s passion for writing and museums stem from her childhood, where she enjoyed reading and field trips to Washington D.C.’s Smithsonian museums. By 4th grade, Deb was volunteering to read Winnie the Pooh and Charlotte’s Web for kindergarten classes. Her early forays into Virginia’s Luray Caverns, New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon, Mexico City’s Basilica de Guadalupe and Athens’ Parthenon ignited her passion for all things natural and historical; visits to Arizona’s National Park Service sites, such as Canyon de Chelly and Tumacacori Mission, fueled her deep love of native peoples and archaeology.

Deb’s numerous publications include Blue Gem, White Metal: Carvings and Jewelry from the C.G. Wallace Collection (1998), Wonders of the Weavers: 19th-century Rio Grande Weavings from the Collection of the Albuquerque Museum (2005), Jewel of the Railroad Era: Albuquerque’s Alvarado Hotel (2009), Albuquerque Museum History Collection: Only in Albuquerque (2017), Leekya: Master Carver of Zuni Pueblo (2018), and Getting Away with Murder in the Old Southwest: The Life and Times of Major Trevanion T. Teel (2002, with Herbert D. Teel Jr.). Her book on Leekya won Best Multicultural Book award at the Arizona-New Mexico Book Awards in 2018.