Vintage Arizona: The Growth, Death, and Rebirth of a Local Wine Industry – Tucson

Mountain View Ballroom 38735 S. Mountain View Blvd,, Tucson, AZ, United States

Arizona’s wine industry is booming. Starting from almost nothing in the 1970s, there are now over 50 wineries across the state and more starting every year.  Despite the youth of the current industry, there is a long history of wine-making in Arizona dating back some 200 years. Using numerous illustrations, this presentation traces the fascinating […]

Free

Riders on the Orphan Train: The Arizona Story – Prescott Valley

Prescott Valley Public Library 7401 E Skoog Blvd, Prescott Valley, AZ, United States

“The Orphan Trains – Arizona’s Hidden History” will be presented at six libraries: Winslow, Prescott, Douglas, Fountain Hills, Wilcox and Prescott Valley. The program is designed to inform, entertain, and engage audiences of all ages and to tell the story of about this little-known chapter of the largest child migration in American and Arizona history […]

Free

Cochise and Bascom, How the Apache Wars Began – Tucson

El Molinito Mexican Restaurant 10180 N. Oracle Rd., Tucson, AZ, United States

In 1861, Lieutenant George Bascom confronted Chiricahua Apache leader Cochise demanding the return of the abducted boy, Felix Ward (aka Mickey Free). The epic 14-day affair, 70 soldiers surrounded by 500 Apaches rescued by the timely intervention of the cavalry, ended in blood with hostages slain on both sides. Congress recognized Dr. Bernard Irwin, who […]

Free

Hellraising, Heroic and Hidden Women of the Old West – Sun City

Fairway Recreation Center 10600 W Peoria Ave, Sun City, 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

Celebrities, Artists…and Good Places to Drink – Sun City West

Summit Hall of the Palm Ridge Recreation Center 13800 W Deer Valley Dr, Sun City West, AZ, United States

Arizona has always been a geographical muse for writers, artists and composers, as well as a getaway for the rich and famous.  In this talk, learn about some of the people who have had adventures, weddings and unusual experiences here, while also learning about some of the places they lifted a glass, and why you […]

Free

Dauntless Courage and Boundless Ambition: The Life of Buckey O’Neill – Clarkdale

Yavapai College, Clarkdale Campus 601 Black Hills Drive, Clarkdale, AZ, United States

Buckey O’Neill was one of Arizona’s legendary pioneers, even author William MacLeod Raine called him “the most many-sided man Arizona has produced”. Before dying in Cuba while serving as one of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, O’Neill made his mark in Arizona as a newspaper editor, sheriff, mayor, and prospector, among other professions. Whether chasing train […]

Free

FRANK Talks: Talking to Each Other About Controversies Now – Pinetop-Lakeside

Pinetop-Lakeside Public Library 1595 Johnson Dr, Lakeside, AZ, United States

Talking to Each Other About Controversies Now  Matt Kundert, University of Arizona, Department of English Current social controversies reflect our nation’s complex history, politics and values. Our views can differ sharply on whether or not America has changed for the better, or for the worse. We can point to specific cultural and technological developments that […]

Free

Arizona Place Names: Our Map and How It Got That Way – Benson

Cochise College Benson Campus 1025 State Route 90, Benson, United States

Place names are like fossil poetry. They afford a kind of folk history, a snapshot in time that enables us to read in them a record of important events, and reconstruct something of the members of a culture at the time they assigned names to the places they saw. The United States has over 3.5 […]

Free

Specters of the Past: Arizona’s Ghost Towns – Bullhead City

Mohave County Library Bullhead City 1170 E. Hancock Dr, Bullhead City , AZ

The promise of unimagined riches is what brought many of the earliest colonizers to the Arizona Territory. Following the trail to the discovery of the mother lode, they built, then dismantled and finally abandoned communities when mines played out – leaving behind tantalizing clues of difficult hardships. Some towns survived like Bisbee, Jerome, Tombstone and […]

Free

Armed with Our Language, We Went to War: The Navajo Code Talkers – Phoenix

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

During WWII a select group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines with a unique weapon. Using the Navajo language, they devised a secret code that the enemy never deciphered.  For over 40 years a cloak of secrecy hung over the Code Talker’s service until the code was declassified and they were finally honored […]

Free

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