Arizona’s Territorial Historian, Poet, and Activist Sharlot Hall

Sharlot Mabridth Hall was an unusual woman for her time: a largely self-educated but highly literate child of the frontier. Born October 27,1870, she traveled with her family from Kansas to the Arizona Territory in 1882. Her impressions of this journey remained with her all of her life. She loved ideas and the written arts and expressed her fascination with Arizona frontier life through prose and poetry. She was the Arizona Territories first female historian. Her diligent efforts inspired others to contribute to the preservation of early Arizona history. After her death on April 9, 1943 a historical society continued her efforts to build the complex that bears her name.

Jody Drake was born and raised in Prescott Arizona and still calls it home.  She is the Founding Director of Blue Rose Theater. The theater worked at the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott AZ for 18 years and has performed throughout the state. Drake has been presenting Sharlot Hall to Arizona audiences for the last 16 years.  Her first person presentation is rich with poetry and the history of Sharlot Hall’s Arizona. She mixes the rich stories of the west with an enchanting combination of humor and fact. She is at ease with all age levels. Jody has presented for Ex-Governors Brewer, Napolitono, and Hull; as well as, Sandra Day O’Connor, Polly Rosenbom, and Raoul Castro.