Helene Haack Allen (1891–1978)

Historical marker location:

NM Highway 272, Fort Sumner, New Mexico

( at Bosque Redondo Memorial Museum)

Helene was a pioneer businesswoman, moving to Fort Sumner at 21. She married a homesteader and they ran diverse businesses, including theaters and a mortuary. She established the first Billy the Kid museum on the site of the Old Fort and won legal battles to keep him interred there. Late in life, she donated land, which became Fort Sumner State Monument and Bosque Redondo Memorial Museum.

During World War II, New Mexico was the site of several top-secret military installations, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the atomic bomb was developed. The laboratory is still one of the largest employers in the state and conducts research in fields such as nuclear energy and national security.