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 […]
Salt has been a valuable trade item throughout human history. Native American salt procurement in the Southwest involved dangerous journeys across sacred landscapes associated with the deity Salt Woman. This presentation focuses on the prehistory of a famous salt mine in what is now known as Camp Verde. In the 1920s, miners discovered prehistoric salt-mining […]
Weeks after Pearl Harbor the War Department announced construction of a massive ammunition storage depot ten miles west of Flagstaff along U.S. Highway 66 at Bellemont. Flagstaff’s population jumped from five to 20 thousand in a spasm of boom town upheaval. Several thousand Navajo and Hopi construction workers labored at the struggling new depot – […]
This session examines the lives, works and influence of The Beatles on contemporary society. We will follow in the footsteps of The Beatles as they embark on their extraordinary career. Our journey will start from their early days as a cover band in Liverpool and Hamburg, into the excitement of Beatlemania to the formation of […]
U.S. Route 66, known as the “Mother Road,” was built in 1926. It ran from Chicago to L. A. During the depression of the 1930s, it became the major path by which people migrated west, seeking work, warm weather and new opportunities. Shore shares the history of Route 66 in Arizona, including the impact it […]
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 […]
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 […]
Knowledge seekers of every kind are welcome at Archaeology Café at The Loft Cinema for a series of programs exploring the deep and diverse history of Arizona. Join us on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, for Precontact Agriculture, Tucson versus Phoenix: It’s Not the Same! by Dr. Gary Huckleberry. Archaeologists have found strong evidence for irrigation agriculture in […]
When the first dining guide to the Valley of the Sun appeared in 1978, the authors had to explain what “sushi” was. Fast forward four decades, and Arizonans are munching rainbow rolls in shopping-mall food courts. The restaurant business in Arizona now brings in more than $11 billion a year. With stories, statistics and insider […]
Museums and Indigenous communities have long had contentious interactions and relationships. In this talk, Jaclyn Roessel, Founder and Present of Grownup Navajo, will examine some of the tensions present within the museum field and discuss how, with further dedication to decolonized practices, museums can help facilitate the assertion of Indigenous community's cultural rights. Jaclyn Roessel […]
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