Memories, Memorials, and Monuments is intended to be a companion to Van Dorn Hooker's books Only in New Mexico: An Architectural History of the University of New Mexico, the First Century 1889-1989, and the large format picture book The University of New Mexico (with V.B. Price and photographer Richard Reck). Memories, Memorials, and Monuments augments the related book Miracle on the Mesa: A History of the University of New Mexico, 1889-2003 by former UNM President William "Bud" E. Davis. The book also responds to the University Regents desire to have a compendium of the University's named places.

The campus began with a scattering of buildings on a treeless mesa at the eastern edge of Albuquerque. Today, the campus is a vibrant and green campus within the larger metropolitan area. The black and white pictures of early buildings depict the buildings and places at or close to the time they were named. These buildings and places may not be recognizable today. And as with any change in the built environment, some named buildings and several markers have been lost to time. Background information may be missing. This first compendium, therefore, is admittedly incomplete and limited to the University of New Mexico's Albuquerque campus. The authors hope that the book will spur others, including those associated with the satellite campuses, to carry on the effort as new information becomes available, the University changes, and the next generation establishes new memorials.