In Santa Fe, no one had to ask, "Concha who"?

There's a state office building in Santa Fe named after her. On May 14, 2010, Santa Feans will celebrate her 100th birthday with a special party and reception. And there's an exhibit underway at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, through the end of May, highlighting her life (1910-2006).

She had interactions with 19 New Mexican governors, countless state and national politicians, and at least six U.S. presidents. Her obituary appeared in The New York Times and she was a Santa Fe "Living Treasure." One of her well-known quotes was: "Life is so interesting if you don't sit on it."

Outspoken and full of life, she blazed a trail for women in New Mexico

If someone told a story about the outspoken individual who at age 26 was the third woman to sit in the New Mexico state legislature, there would be no doubt who they were referring to. Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven was her full name, but the simple reference "Concha" was enough to make it clear that everyone was acknowledging the woman who was ahead of her time. New Mexico's state capitol has countless people who can tell their own version of a Concha story.

An exhibit featuring her life, a book, plus many stories making the rounds in Santa Fe and throughout New Mexico continue to keep Concha in the limelight

There's a 200-page book about Concha's life by Kathryn M. Cordova. The exhibit at Santa Fe's Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, ongoing through the end of May, provides a memorable overview of Concha photos and memorabilia. This display enhances the year-long celebration of Santa Fe's 400th anniversary running to the end of 2010.

The special 100th birthday party and reception on May 14, 2010 at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, 750 Camino Lejo in Santa Fe (Museum Hill), 4-6 p.m., will feature presentations by Concha's long-time close friend Ana Pacheco, as well as Concha's biographer, Kathryn M. Cordova.

Special guests are expected to attend the 100th birthday event, including the page who served with Concha in the state legislature and an old friend who accompanied her on a trip around the world. In Concha's later years, Ana Pacheco (writer, publisher, and editor of La Herencia) became Concha's confidant and close family friend. If there's anything about Concha you don't know, Ana Pacheco can fill you in. Concha was outspoken, spirited, full of life, and well respected. If she phoned Governor Bill Richardson and left a message, for example, he returned her call right away. Concha was someone to be taken seriously.

The list of Concha's accomplishments is long

Concha Ortiz y Pino was born in 1910 into a prominent New Mexican family who encouraged her to stretch the boundaries of opportunities open to women. She ran for elected office and served three terms in the state legislature. In 1941, Concha became the first Majority Whip in a state legislature in the United States. She supported the preservation of Hispanic colonial crafts, helped establish the equalization formula to allocate public school revenues equally between urban and rural areas, promoted bilingual education, made it possible for women to serve on juries, and much more. Three U.S. presidents appointed her to special commissions.

During John F. Kennedy's administration, JFK offered Concha an all-expense trip to Washington, DC for her and her group, according to Ana Pacheco. Concha could have been sitting pretty with well-to-do friends lavishly enjoying the nation's capitol. Instead, she showed up with a bus load of physically challenged individuals in wheelchairs and walkers.

Concha was like that, Ana Pacheco says, --passionately interested in and determined to help the "underdog." She was willing to take off on a moment's notice to campaign for handicap accessibility around the country. She was as likely to be shaking the hand of a U.S. president as down on her knees, working with architects, measuring bathrooms and hallways for wheelchair accessibility. Concha could be found acting the perfect hostess when serving tea to ambassadors. And then, she'd be off to attend to the business of community social agencies. She served on numerous boards of nonprofits.

The exhibit and the storytelling celebration highlighting Concha's life are expected to attract a large crowd

The Museum exhibit has a wide range of treasures on display with Concha's name written all over them. These include a photo of Concha wearing a gold filigree necklace made from gold mined in the Ortiz Mountains; a photo with her husband Victor Kleven, a UNM professor; an embroidered shaw; a late 19th century bed frame owned by her mother; cut glass; her signature black fan; and much more.

Ana Pacheco will tell Concha stories at the 100th birthday celebration in May, and there's a good chance one tale will be about when Concha was a young woman. She ran her family's ranch and had 100 men working under her; it was rare for a woman to be in such a position in the state back then. Or Ana may tell about the time, in the heyday of Concha's younger years, when actor Clark Gable sent Concha a letter requesting that she show up for a Hollywood screen test. Concha never wrote back. Ana Pacheco said she asked her why. Concha's reply was that she was too busy running around New Mexico, living a full life, helping people, and exhausting the theme which propelled her throughout the years of her long career: "Life is so interesting if you don't sit on it."