Water in the Southwest: Where Have We Been, and Where Are We Going? with Jennifer Richter

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

It has been said that “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.” This is especially true of water politics in the American Southwest, a region defined by its lack of water. The massive 20th century federal investments into dam systems controlled the great rivers of the West, allowing cities like Phoenix to “bloom like […]

FREE

Where Do Landfills Go?: A History of Environmental Justice with Dr. Matthew Whitaker

Coolidge Public Library 160 W. Central Avenue, Coolidge, AZ, United States

Where do we dump our toxic waste? Where do we bury contaminated soil? Where do we put our industrial waste facilities? Hazardous sites are most frequently placed near Black and brown neighborhoods. Environmental pollution, whether dirty air or contaminated water, has disproportionately impacted communities of color for decades. Years of governmental support for housing discrimination […]

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Caretakers of the Land: A Story of Farming and Community in San Xavier with Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan

Pima County Public Library - Dusenberry-River 5605 E. River Rd., Ste 105, Tucson, AZ, United States

Farming has always been the way of life for the Tohono O’odham community in San Xavier, located just south of Tucson. Their way of life depended on access to the land and to the water, namely the Santa Cruz River, which nourished agriculture in the area for generations. But a history of division sown through […]

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Miners,Cowboys and Washerwomen: the Work Songs of Arizona with Jay Cravath

Cochise College Downtown Center 2600 E Wilcox Dr, Sierra Vista

In a lively and entertaining portrait of working class music, Dr. Cravath explores its roots and rhythms. From the cottonfields of Chandler to the crooked streets of Jerome, songs were companions to the immigrants who explored and built our state. Through performance and discussion, this subject, which reveals so much of the nature and character […]

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Black Woman Rising: African American Community Mothers in Phoenix with Akua Duku Anokye

Virtual AZ, United States

African American women have had a tremendous impact on the lives of Arizonans. In a project I’ve been working on for the past 20 years, I have had the privilege of interviewing some of these amazing women. I call them othermothers/community mothers–these social activist who emerged from the Black woman-centered network of community. Let me […]

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Growing in the Desert: The History & Culture of the Tohono O’odham with Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan

Richard Elías-Mission Library 3770 S Mission Rd, Tucson, AZ, United States

Many Arizonans call the Sonoran Desert and its striking landscapes home. Long before our urban centers and city lights lit up the dark desert skies, the Tohono O’odham were cultivating and shaping the land with abundant agriculture—from squash and beans to corn and cotton. For generations they passed down their rich knowledge and culture grown […]

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Climate Conversations – Story of Water: Heroes of the Water Monster with Author Brian Young

AZ, United States

Join author Brian Young for a reading and conversation about his new book, Heroes of the Water Monster, companion to Healer of the Water Monster, which won the American Indian Youth Literature Award. Young will discuss water in the Southwest, how water consumption affects Native communities, and how stories can help us understand environmental issues. […]

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Arizona’s Vintage Signs: Lighting the Future with Marshall Shore

Pence Center for the Arts - Auditorium 8470 N Overfield Rd., Coolidge, AZ, United States

Arizona has become a hotbed of preserving vintage signage and neon. No wonder, with the rise of Arizona and automobile travel in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Thousands of people were traversing the broad expanses of highways and byways across the Southwest. As the cars sped past, restaurants, motels, curio shops and gas stations needed […]

Jerome-Too Stubborn to Die-How the Town Survived Numerous “Near-Death” Experiences with Jay Mark

Phippen Museum 4701 N Hwy 89, Prescott, AZ, United States

Numerous fires, landslides, floods, labor strikes, polluted air, epidemics, Depression, recessions, financial collapse, one adversity after another. Any one of these might spell the end of a lesser community. But, in Arizona, one town survived these “near-death” experiences, and more; yet managed to survive. Some might even say, “thrive.” This presentation looks at the numerous […]

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They Beat the Heat: How Arizonans Survived the Desert Heat in the Days Before Air Conditioning with Christine Reid

Buckeye Valley Museum - 116 E. MC85, Buckeye, AZ 85326 116 East MC85, Buckeye

Drawing from multi-cultural influences of the variety of people who helped build Arizona, discover how creative adaptations in lifestyle, architecture, building materials, town planning and even humor all contributed to surviving intense desert temperatures. What have we forgotten and what can we learn from the wisdom of those who came before as climate becomes a […]

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