Arizona Snake Oil Salesmen, Scams, and Hoaxes with Christine Reid

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

Entrepreneurs offering assorted “get rich quick” schemes and “cure-alls” have visited Arizona since the early days. Benefitting from tales of abundant resources in the territory, limited law enforcement and communication, a scoundrel could create enticing promises of wealth and health without much external oversight. Newspapers often fanned the hysteria only to later denounce and expose […]

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The Vanishing Trading Posts with Chris Glenn and Sandy Sunseri

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

The stories of trading posts in the Southwest are a unique snapshot of life almost one hundred years ago. In the early 1900’s, trading posts in the Four corners flourished. There were over one hundred trading posts on the plateau, but today only five remain. Why did they vanish? The challenges and unexpected gifts of […]

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Dark Skies over Arizona with Kevin Schindler

Monte Vista Building Pueblo Room 8865 E. Baseline Road #1740, Mesa, AZ

There’s nothing like standing under a dark, star-spangled night sky to quiet the mind and reduce stress, share an experience of awe with family and friends, and to inspire creative thoughts. Yet such dark skies are a disappearing resource, with only 20% of the world living in a place where the center of our Milky […]

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100 Years Grand – The Story of Arizona Highways Magazine with Win Holden

Fountin Hills Community Center 13001 N La Montana Dr, Fountain Hills, AZ, United States

  April 2025 will mark Arizona Highways magazine’s 100th birthday. How did a brochure produced by the Arizona Highway Department become one of the most revered travel publications in the world? How has Arizona Highways remained relevant for a century while other national magazines have failed? Former Arizona Highways Publisher, Win Holden, will share the […]

New Women/New Lives: Arizona Early Women Artists, 1900-1945 with Betsy Fahlman

Dorothy Powell Senior Center 405 E 6th St, Casa Grande, AZ, United States

A range of factors attracted the earliest Anglo women artists to Arizona. Some sought sanctuary and solitude in the state’s geologically impressive landscapes, while others sought solace in the vast, spirit-lifting vistas they encountered at every turn. Others found that encounters with Native Americans caused them to question long-held colonialist stereotypes of “the other.” Still […]

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Coded Messages and Songs of the Underground Railroad with Dr. Tamika Sanders

Burton Barr Central Library 1221 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ, United States

Communication and secrecy were key to the successful operation of the Underground Railroad. Safety was more important than quickness. Both fugitive slaves and members of the Underground Railroad learned to code and decode hidden messages, and to disguise signs to avoid capture. There were code names for towns on the routes and code numbers for […]

Box Cars to Jets: First Fifty Years of Arizona Aviation with Natalie Stewart-Smith

Chino Valley Public Library 1020 W Palomino Road, Chino Valley, AZ, United States

Arizonans quickly embraced the aviation advances of the early 1900s. Whether for fun, adventure, or science, they made their own planes and soared, sometimes with rough landings. The adventure, the science, the opportunity, and even the unknown drew Arizonans into the skies. And they accomplished much! Take a flight through history with Natalie Stewart-Smith. This […]

Rivers of Dreams: Songs and Stories of Arizona’s Waterways with Jay Craváth

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

The Colorado, the Gila, the Salt, the Verde, the Hassayampa, the Santa Cruz: Arizona’s rivers were lush green ribbons of life flowing through a desert landscape. They became sustaining paths for indigenous traders and immigrants leaving wagon tracks and settlements. The Hohokam built vast canals from the Salt to direct irrigation water for crops. European […]

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

Tucson Desert Art Museum 7000 E Tanque Verde Rd, Tucson, Arizona

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 […]

They Did More than Just Drink: How Black Social Clubs Created Communities in Tucson from 1860-1900 with Bernard Wilson

Desert Caballeros Western Museum 21 N. Frontier Street, Wickenburg, AZ, United States

Between 1865 and 1870, Black people from slave states emigrated to Tucson. As skilled cooks, domestics, barbers, scouts, surveyors, and builders, they came in search of place to start life as free people. Historians described this first wave of Black pioneers as passive Tucsonans disinterested in the politics and governance of the city. Yet, these […]

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