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

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, AZ, United States

In 1929, the first national women’s air race from Santa Monica, California to Cleveland, Ohio 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? […]

Talking Code with a Secret Weapon: Navajo Code Talkers Speak with Laura Tohe

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, AZ, United States

During WWII a group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines unaware that they would 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. Excerpts from live interviews with the Code Talkers tell […]

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Dia de los Muertos Storytelling with Zarco Guerrero

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, AZ, United States

  Dia de Los Muertos is a highly celebrated and significant holiday held throughout Mexico, Latin America and the Southwest. It is a day when homage is paid with prayers, offerings of food and the building of altars to those who have gone before us. Join Zarco and his unique masked characters as they celebrate […]

FREE

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

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, 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

Black Woman Rising: African American Community Mothers in Phoenix

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, AZ, United States

  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 […]

Paper Sons and the Road to Citizenship, 1882-1965 with Dr. Li Yang

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, AZ, United States

  A “paper son” is a term used for young Chinese immigrants coming to the United States prior to 1943 who claimed to be a son of a citizen but were, in fact, sons on paper only. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed to curb Chinese immigration to the U.S. The passage of […]

FREE

Dia de los Muertos Storytelling with Zarco Guerrero

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, AZ, United States

Dia de Los Muertos is a highly celebrated and significant holiday held throughout Mexico, Latin America and the Southwest. It is a day when homage is paid with prayers, offerings of food and the building of altars to those who have gone before us. Join Zarco and his unique masked characters as they celebrate Día […]

FREE

Desert Rats, River Runners, and Canyon Crawlers: Four Arizona Explorers with Gregory McNamee

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, AZ, United States

Francisco Garcés, a Franciscan friar, arrived in what is now Arizona in 1768. Assigned to the church at San Xavier del Bac south of present-day Tucson, he traveled widely throughout Arizona and California, charting overland routes that later travelers would follow. Near where Garcés would meet his death in 1781, an American soldier named Joseph […]

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Dams, Mines, and Hotels: Media and Misinformation Affecting the Grand Canyon with Matthew Goodwin

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, AZ, United States

In 1961 a newspaper article discussed a proposal to build an 18-story, 600-room hotel inside the Grand Canyon descending from the south rim to the canyon floor. A letter-writing campaign ensued that succeeded in blocking the hotel. But lawmakers instead passed a bill that allowed the company to mine uranium there—they never had any intention […]

FREE

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

Casa Grande Public Library 449 N. Dry Lake St., Casa Grande, 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 […]

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