Comparatively young, Wild West, borderland that Arizona is with its rich indigenous heritage, pioneer, settler mentality, and fierce, independent spirit, the state has given rise to challenges that have shaped understanding of the US Constitution. For example, any reader or viewer of US police procedurals is familiar with Miranda v. Arizona (1966), treating the Fifth […]

During WWII a group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines without knowing that they would be called on to develop a secret code against the Japanese military. This select group of Code Talkers devised a Navajo language code that was accurate, quick, never broken, and saved many American lives. This talk profiles four […]

Mining companies extracted millions of tons of uranium from the Navajo Nation between 1944 and 1986. Today hundreds of abandoned uranium mines litter the Navajo Nation. How have the Navajo people, land, and water suffered from exposure to these mines? Are people still at risk of radiation exposure? What is being done by the federal […]

Join Zarco for a series of stories that share the vibrant and tragic history of water and the River People, over a 2,000 year period. Beginning with the Toltec trade route that brought agriculture and corn to the Southwest. The history of the O’Odham before and after the expansion west is revealed. We learn about […]

Using storytelling, historical artifacts and songs, this presentation will depict the ingenuity and resiliency used by those involved in the Underground Railroad to help over 100,000 enslaved people escape to freedom between 1810 and 1850. We’ll then fast forward to the Jim Crow era and explore the Overground Railroad created by the Green Book which […]

Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court Case Loving vs. Virginia, the validity of an inter-racial marriage was dependent upon the state or territory a person lived. In the Arizona territories the laws governing miscegenation, or inter-racial marriage, focused on the prevention of creating mixed racial persons, rather than actual marital unions. In 1892, a couple […]

This presentation covers five Arizona novelists: Zane Grey spent his honeymoon at the Grand Canyon and went on to be one of the first and most famous Western writers of all time; Harold Bell Wright came to Tucson with lung problems and became a bestseller from 1900 to 1930. University of Arizona writing professor Richard […]

The foods of Arizona speak to the many cultures, native and newcomer, that make up our state. 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 […]

Flagstaff, Arizona was the world’s first community designated an International Dark Sky Place for its active efforts reduce light pollution and protect the visibility of the night sky. There are now over 130 dark-sky communities, places, and parks globally. Arizona alone has 17 dark-sky places, which is more than any other country in the world. […]