In April 2022, friends, family and the campus community gathered for the dedication ceremony naming a wing of Breland Hall to honor the late Clarence Fielder.
Fielder’s legacy includes not only 40 years teaching African American history at NMSU and decades teaching in Las Cruces public schools, but also his work to preserve the African American history of the region and the restoration of the 100-plus-year-old Phillips Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest extant African American church in New Mexico. Fielder died in 2015.
“Clarence’s joy for teaching and sharing history was spread from grade school levels to college levels and from generation to generation,” says Marcia Boyer, Fielder’s niece.
The event included speakers, music and the film “A Walk with Clarence Fielder.” Members of the committee that organized the dedication also presented a tribute book about Fielder’s life and accomplishments to his family.
Ignacio Alvarado, president of the Black Student Association of NMSU, holds a wall plaque honoring the late Clarence Fielder during a dedication ceremony naming a wing of Breland Hall.
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305 N. Horseshoe Drive
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