John Wesley Powell: Into the Great Unknown (Phoenix)

Mesquite Branch - Phoenix Public Library 4525 Paradise Village Pkwy N, Phoenix, AZ, United States

Millions of travelers visit the Grand Canyon each year, but just 150 years ago, this was still considered the “last blank spot on the map.” One man, a one-armed civil war veteran, was determined to navigate and document the Colorado River as it winds through the canyon. Therefore, on May 24, 1869, John Wesley Powell […]

Free

Cowpokes, Crooks, and Cactus: Arizona in the Movies (Apache Junction)

Apache Junction Library 1177 N. Idaho Rd., Apache Junction, AZ, United States

Tyrone Power, Andy Devine,  Katy Jurado, Steve McQueen and, of course, John Wayne. From the earliest days of film, Arizona has been a setting and subject for hundreds of films. Some, like Junior Bonner and Red River, are considered classics, others, such as Billy Jack and Evolution, surely less so. Some may even be classics […]

Free

Wild, Weird, Wicked Arizona (El Mirage)

El Mirage Senior Center 14010 El Mirage Rd, El Mirage, AZ, United States

For a state that has been home to Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, César Chavez and Wonder Women, you would think Arizona earned some respect. Yet achieving statehood was a 50-year struggle, which finally ended on February 14, 1912. Jana borrows from both her work for True West Magazine and her work for Phoenix Magazine to put […]

Free

Women’s Bands in America Performing Music and Gender (Florence)

Florence Community Library 778 N. Main St., Florence, AZ, United States

Women's Bands in America is the first comprehensive exploration of women’s bands across the three centuries in American history. Sullivan will trace women's emerging roles in society as seen through women's bands—concert and marching—spanning three centuries of American history. The author will explore town, immigrant, industry, family, school, suffrage, military, jazz, and rock bands, adopting […]

Free

Empire to Las Cienegas NCA: Ranching and Historic Landscape Change (Sierra Vista)

Cochise College Benson Center 1025 S. Highway 90, Benson, AZ, United States

The Empire Ranch, built by Walter Vail and family, was one of the most financially successful and long-lived cattle enterprises in Arizona. For over 140 years, the owners of the Empire wisely managed its natural resources – soils, waters, and vegetation in the Cienega Valley. Today those grasslands are some of the richest and most […]

Free

Set in Stone but Not in Meaning: Southwestern Indian Rock Art (Tucson)

Himmel Park Public Library 1035 N. Treat Avenue, Tucson, AZ, United States

Ancient Indian pictographs (rock paintings) and petroglyphs (symbols carved or pecked on rocks) are claimed by some to be forms of writing for which meanings are known. However, are such claims supported by archaeology or by Native Americans themselves? Mr. Dart illustrates southwestern petroglyphs and pictographs, and discusses how even the same rock art symbol […]

Free

Apaches and their Horses (Camp Verde)

Camp Verde Library 130 Black Bridge Lp Rd, Camp Verde, AZ, United States

It has been thought that the Apache do not become Apache until the adoption of the horse, which triggered the raiding adaptation. While horses played a central role in the Apachean world, the horse divide is not as pronounced as thought. Horses changed the ancestral Apache lifeway and horses survived and thrived without European horse […]

Free

Asia’s Unique Culture: A Visual Trip Across A Mystical Continent (Miami)

Miami Jr./Sr. High School 4739 Ragus Rd, Miami, AZ, United States

From bustling Hong Kong, to the opulent Grand Palace of Bangkok, to the world’s tallest building in Dubai, to the slums of Mumbai, this highly visual presentation will explore the culture, cuisine, and customs of this fascinating and rapidly changing region.  Dan Fellner, an experienced travel writer and Fulbright Fellow in Asia, will share his […]

Free

John Wesley Powell: Into the Great Unknown (Surprise)

City of Surprise City Council Chambers 16000 N. Civic Center Plaza, Surprise, AZ, United States

Millions of travelers visit the Grand Canyon each year, but just 150 years ago, this was still considered the "last blank spot on the map." One man, a one-armed civil war veteran, was determined to navigate and document the Colorado River as it winds through the canyon. Therefore, on May 24, 1869, John Wesley Powell […]

Free

Hellraising, Heroic and Hidden Women of the Old West (Phoenix)

Pueblo Grande Museum 4619 East Washington St., Phoenix, AZ, United States

Although history tries to tell us ONLY men settled the Old West, that is shattered by Jana's verbal tour through some of the amazing women who made all the difference. Any woman who came West in the 1800s had to be full of grit and spit to survive and Jana has collected the stories of […]

Free

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