Roger Max Zimmerman was born at Rehoboth Mission east of Gallup, New Mexico.  His early years were spent at Mariano Lake Trading Post and he started public schools at Crownpoint, New Mexico.  He later transferred to the Gallup schools and attended through the sophomore year.  He graduated from high school at New Mexico Military Institute and enrolled at the University of Colorado in 1954.  He received B.S. (CE), M.S. and Ph. D degrees in areas related to Civil Engineering.  He served as an Instructor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado from 1959-64 and then as Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor of Civil Engineering at New Mexico State University from 1964-79.  He also held assignments as Assistant, Associate, and Acting Dean of Engineering during parts of this period. He was employed as a Visiting Scientist to the Rockwell International Science Center in 1979-80 and developed a new testing method for tiles on the Space Shuttle.  He then became employed at Sandia National Laboratories, where he worked on projects associated with the storage of nuclear waste, weapons components testing programs, and rocket systems target deployments.  He retired in 2000 as a project manager and distinguished member of the technical staff.  He now owns a consulting firm called Engineering Analyses, LLC.  He is a Fellow in the National Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The book is about the multi-faceted activities originating from the Kitchen’s Opera House facility.  The Opera House served a very vital role in the early life of Gallup, New Mexico and touched most or all of the citizens in one way or another.  My father purchased the dry goods store next to the opera house in 1946, and I have been aware of the facility, but not the happenings, since that time.  Inscribed in stone over the entrance to the library at the University of Colorado is the statement: “He who knows only his own generation, remains always a child.”  I realized that I only had childhood impressions of the Opera House and I am sure that is true for many citizens in Gallup.  I thought it appropriate to collect and summarize some of the treasures of this unique facility and share this.  I found the search to be very interesting and sometimes exhilarating when a choice tidbit was uncovered.  I hope that the readers find the same and can come to appreciate the significance of the many events that occurred there. 

Two key pieces of resource information were used.  The primary source of information was the microfilm records of the newspapers that covered the construction and operations of the Opera House for the period 1890-1952. Over 1200 articles for the period 1890-1952 were reviewed and about 300 used.

The second was a review of the abstracts of title for the property.  Abstracts from 1891-1968 were used, with traces back to 1881 provided.

Abstracts were made available by the  owner in 2002, Arnold Hudgeons, and he is sincerely thanked for this help and in allowing access to the records and to the facility for personal visits.