Black Wall Street: Then and Now with Dr. Tamika Sanders

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

Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood district was coined “Black Wall Street” because it was a thriving African American community that boosted hospitals, churches, shopping centers, schools, and banks. But all that changed, on May 31, 1921, when an angry mob stormed the town and burned everything to the ground. This presentation will explore what made Black Wall […]

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 […]

Our River Stories: The Gila and the Salt with Zarco Guerrero

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

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 […]

FREE

Pathways of Water: Historical Journeys Along Arizona’s Rivers with Jay Craváth

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

Water sustains life and has a significant role in our state’s history. The myths and stories of our indigenous tribes are rich with its references. Immigrants trod and floated Arizona’s waterways enduring great peril. Government surveyors explored and mapped our river systems. Huge dams blocked their flow to create vast reservoirs. This program will share […]

FREE

CANCELED – Keeping Heritage Real in Arizona

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

One may hear varying points of view when it comes to heritage – timeless creation or historical storytelling, all are imperative. Keeping heritage ‘real’ is important as it ensures the posterity for Native Americans. The vivid landscape, the many footprints, timeless settings, high and low points, conflict and adversity – all are real. In this […]

CANCELED – Keeping Heritage Real

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

One may hear varying points of view when it comes to heritage – timeless creation or historical storytelling, all are imperative. Keeping heritage ‘real’ is important as it ensures the posterity for Native Americans. The vivid landscape, the many footprints, timeless settings, high and low points, conflict and adversity – all are real. In this […]

Mescal Agave Use in Arizona: Food, Fiber, and Vessel

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

The agave plant was used by Native peoples for numerous utilitarian items. Mescal served as a valuable food source still being harvested and prepared to this day by many Indigenous groups. For millennia people have pit roasted the heart of the plant yielding a nutritious food staple rich in calcium and zinc. This talk includes […]

“Hyenas in Petticoats”–How Women Struggled Against Every Dirty Trick in the Books to Win the Vote!

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

As we celebrate the 100th birthday of the 19th Amendment in 2020, it’s time to look back at the enormous effort it took for women to be granted full citizenship and the vote. History has downplayed suffrage, as if it were just a footnote in American history, when in fact, it was the nation’s largest […]

Art of the Internment Camps: Culture Behind Barbed Wire

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

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1942 WWII Executive Order 9066 forced the removal of nearly 125,000 Japanese-American citizens from the west coast, incarcerating them in ten remote internment camps in seven states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Government photographers Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, and Ansel Adams documented the internment, and artists Toyo Miyatake, […]

Free

LGBTQ: A History in Arizona (Phoenix)

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

Arizona's history of the LGBTQ community begins long before Arizona was a state with the Native American belief of two-spirits, continues on through to the seismic shift of Marriage Equality. There are some surprises along the way as we talk about artists such as Keith Haring and George Quaintance. There is also the little known […]

Free

Fill out the info below to sign up for our E-Newsletter.