What is Día de los Muertos? From where does it originate? And how is it celebrated? Día de los Muertos or Days of the Dead is a significant and highly celebrated holiday in Mexico, Latin America, and the Southwestern United States. To understand Día de los Muertos one has to set aside preconceived notions. To […]

Vicariously experience the environment and atmosphere of a 1960s-era Civil Rights Movement camp.  Through theatrical performance, music, poetry, and participatory activities, audience members will examine the culture of discrimination, racial prejudice, and social injustice in the United States as it was during the 1960s.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s strategy of passive resistance will be […]

American Indians are the only ethnic group in the United States who, for generations, were subjected to forced education by the federal government.  In the early years, Indian children were hunted down and taken by force to boarding schools, residing there for three or more years.  These children were stripped of their Native identities, not […]

As editor of the third edition of Fran Kosik’s classic travel book, A Complete Motoring Guide to the Navajo and Hopi Nations, Turner retraced her routes in January 2013, updating information on dozens of intriguing Native American trading posts, prehistoric ruins, museums, and natural wonders. Using the pictures taken on that trip, this presentation creates […]

The great West that George Bird Grinnell first encountered in 1870 as a 21-year-old man was shortly to disappear before his eyes.  Nobody was quicker to sense the desecration or was more eloquent in crusading against the poachers, the hide-hunters, and the disengaged U.S. Congress than George Bird Grinnell, the “Father of American Conservation.”  Grinnell […]

Many observers have argued that America’s politics, and public discourse, has become increasingly boorish and coarse. Is this true? If so, is it a reflection of society’s devolution in general? In this address, Whitaker will place the notion of civil public discourse in proper historical context, and reassure listeners that although we are living in an […]

Sedona is known for its colorful rocks, but how did this striking landscape come to be? Join Ranney on a thrilling trip back in time when the red rocks were part of a coastal plain, a Sahara-like desert, and warm, tropical seas. Learn how the area became sculpted into a maze of breathtaking buttes, spires, […]

Charles Lindbergh is best known for his famous 1927 flight across the Atlantic Ocean.  But few realize that Lindbergh and his wife, Anne, played a brief but important role in archaeology.  In 1929 they teamed up with noted archaeologist Alfred Kidder to conduct an unprecedented aerial photographic survey of Southwest prehistoric sites and geologic features […]

July 1, 2013, marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, an innovation for its time that addressed a healthcare crisis during World War II and improved nurse education across the United States. Participants will learn about Cadet Nurses in participating hospital schools of nursing in Arizona. Also to be […]

Join Arizona Humanities (AH) for a workshop FREE and open to anyone interested in learning more about AH and how to write a competitive grant proposal. Registration is limited and closes one business day prior to the workshop. If you would like to register for a workshop that is already closed, please contact Whitney Klotz, […]

During the Second World War, Arizona’s open spaces, sparse population, and mild weather made it an ideal location for a wide range of military operations including combat training, POW camps, and flight training.  By war’s end, more pilots received their wings in Arizona than in any other state.  This presentation discusses the war’s impact on […]

On Thursday, November 6, join photography historian, collector, researcher, and writer Jeremy Rowe, EdD for the release of his new book Arizona Stereographs, 1865-1930. Explore Arizona and the West through stereographic photography and experience a fascinating time in American history. Stereographs were an early form of three-dimensional photography, and were very popular for education and […]

Survivors of genocide are not victims, they are heroes.  It is hard to imagine that there are real people involved in the dangers of ethnic cleansing, drones and other weapons of destruction.  Have you ever asked yourself, “What happens after war? How do people deal with its effect?  Where are those that have been ravaged […]

With the exception of the most ardent collectors and the older generations, the influence and legacy of the big bands is largely forgotten despite their overwhelming popularity and significant role in early radio.  Join Larson as he revisits the sounds that America listened and danced to for more than three decades.  Learn how iconic artists […]

Consider the taco, that favorite treat, a staple of Mexican and Mexican American cooking and an old standby on an Arizonan’s plate. The corn in the tortilla comes from Mexico, the cheese from the Sahara, the lettuce from Egypt, the onion from Syria, the tomatoes from South America, the chicken from Indochina, and the beef […]

Goldie Tracy Richmond came to southwestern Arizona in 1927 where she lived in a canvas lean-to. To survive, Goldie mined, ran traplines, and operated Tracy’s Trading Post, living among the Tohono O’odham people for four decades. She was a large woman, and the stories told by the O’odham people of Goldie’s life are legendary. Goldie […]