Book on Gallup Kitchen's Opera House hard to find

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — When Roger Zimmerman decided to write a book on the history of the entertainment hall that existed above his family business in Gallup, he probably didn’t know just what he was getting into.

He would spend months going through microfilm of old issues of Gallup newspapers, including the Gallup Independent, from 1893 to 1951, looking for any mention of the Kitchen’s Opera House or people who over the years have been associated with the place.

But the 174-page book became more than just a history of an entertainment hall as he talked about the union influences in Gallup that led to the riots in the 1930s. There’s another section on the bootlegging industry in Gallup that sold liquor to Indians who at that time were not allowed to buy it.

He also reprints a lot of ads from local papers promoting boxing matches, dances and general entertainment in Gallup during those years.

He said he didn’t write the book for money, but because “it was fun,” and when it was finished in 2002, he tried to work with officials at the Gallup Public Library to make the book available to people in Gallup but received no response whatsoever from library officials at the time.

“I put the book online so that people could download it at no cost,” he said, adding that the book was online for six months with few downloads so he finally took it down.

The book has since been printed in hard form by Digital 1 Presentations in Albuquerque but he said he thought only about 100 copies were printed. The publisher may have some copies of the book available at prices of less than $10, he said. The publisher can be contacted at digital1@lobo.net

Zimmerman, who worked at the Sandia Labs and is now living semiretired in Albuquerque, said that since the book was published he has collected more stories about Gallup and the opera house and he plans to do something with them “if there is any interest.”