Arizona goes to the Movies: A Filmmaking History with Jim Turner

Buckeye Public Library - Coyote Branch Library 21699 W Yuma Rd, Suite 116, Buckeye, AZ, United States

From Douglas Fairbanks filming in Nogales in 1917 to “How the West Was Won” statewide in 1963, the state of Arizona has always been a photogenic favorite for movie producers. The program looks from “Real to Reel” to see how Hollywood has affected popular views of Western settlement and continues to impact social interactions. The […]

FREE

From “Chief” to Code Talker: Four Profiles of the Navajo Code Talkers with Dr. Laura Tohe

Buckeye Valley Museum 116 E Hwy 85, Buckeye, AZ, United States

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 […]

FREE

Flying Through Arizona: The Story of the First National Women’s Air Race with Natalie J. Stewart-Smith

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

In 1929, the first national women’s air race from Santa Monica, CA to Cleveland, OH passed through Arizona. Stopping in Yuma, Phoenix, and Douglas, the intrepid fliers solidified their determination and sisterhood along these Arizona waypoints. Who were these aviators? What were their planes like in 1929? What challenges did they encounter along the way? […]

FREE

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

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

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 […]

FREE

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 […]

FREE

The History Matters: Yours Too! with Pamela Stewart

Buckeye Valley Museum 116 E Hwy 85, Buckeye, AZ, United States

Reasons exist for why people do not look to history to address today’s challenges. Yet actively engaging in historical thinking can reveal tools for solving problems faster and with greater success. Even as personal history can matter and the presentation is useful for those interests, this is not an introduction to genealogy class. The interactive, […]

FREE

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

Buckeye Valley Museum 116 E Hwy 85, Buckeye, 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 […]

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

Buckeye Valley Museum 116 E Hwy 85, Buckeye, 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 […]

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

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

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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