In pioneer Arizona, among the best places to experience the performing arts were in the mining towns. Striking it rich meant having disposable income, and miners, like the well-heeled of the Gilded Age, wanted to demonstrate their sophistication with culture. From the early popular music of ragtime and minstrelsy during the forming of these communities, […]
Turquoise has a long standing tradition amongst Native cultures of the Southwest, holding special significance and profound meanings to specific individual tribes. Even before the more contemporary tradition of combining silver with turquoise, cultures throughout the southwest used turquoise in necklaces, earrings, mosaics, fetishes, medicine pouches, and made bracelets of basketry stems lacquered with piñon […]
Arizonans often didn’t play well with others where they’d lived before, and that made them well-suited to survive a society that (supposedly) didn’t serve alcohol. Hear some of the stories of how places you can still drink today made it through the speakeasy era… as well as what makes some of our other historic watering […]
Come have a taste of the rich and savory history of these food favorites, explore how early peoples used them, and how they have evolved and spread to all corners of the world. Food is a portal into culture and can convey a range of cultural meaning including occasion, social status, ethnicity, and wealth depending […]
The U.S. Constitution set in place a process for removing from office elected and non-elective executive and judicial officers of the United States: that process is commonly called impeachment. It is a power of the national legislature, the Congress; and both the House of Representatives and the Senate play roles, separately but in coordination. On […]
Water is necessary for life, but as supply shrinks, choices must be made about who is given access to water and who isn’t. Communities across Arizona are going dry. This means that some residents may have no choice except to move. How do we decide who gets access to water, and who does not? Should […]
Theodore Roosevelt exhibited a greater influence on Arizona than perhaps any other president. He was the first sitting president to visit Arizona, employed an executive order to preserve the Grand Canyon, established a variety of wildlife refuges and reclamation projects, and enjoyed outdoor recreation in the area. This program will share Roosevelt’s widespread influence in […]
Freedom of speech is fundamental in a democratic society. It means that a person or a community can express their opinion or ideas without fear of retaliation or censorship. But what happens when the opinions expressed are unpopular, violent or dangerous? Whether expressed in person, or through social media, words can have a powerful effect […]
During World War II over one thousand women served as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), freeing male pilots for combat roles at a critical time during the war. The WASP ferried planes from factories to embarkation points; performed engineer test flying of repaired aircraft and did target towing for gunnery training. By the spring of […]
For more than a century and a half some of the world’s best photographers focused their lenses on Arizona. In addition to the renowned Edward S. Curtis, Kate Cory lived with the Hopi and represented them in photographs and on canvas, while C. S. Fly gave us the famous Geronimo pictures. In the 20th century […]
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