This session features the principle that Hip Hop performs an important social function, and consequently the messaging within it. We will examine why and how something so controversial and marginal could become so mainstream and central, becoming a billion-dollar business today! Using history as a backdrop, we explore particular genres, artists, styles, sounds, images, and […]
The rise of car travel in the 40s, 50s and 60s meant that thousands of people were traversing the broad expanses of the Southwest looking for new landscapes and adventure. As the cars sped past, restaurants, motels, curio shops and gas stations needed large, bright signs to make an impression. This informative and entertaining visual […]
Ever since the Grand Canyon became grand, tourists have been flocking to Arizona to see the sights and experience the unique landscape and indigenous cultures. This presentation covers the whole state over more than a century. From 1880s Grand Canyon stagecoach and mule rides, the Fred Harvey railroad era (Harvey Girls and Indian Detours), auto […]
Arizona has had its share of colorful politicians but none more so than George W. P. Hunt, Arizona’s first governor. From his birth in rural Missouri in 1859 to his death in Phoenix in 1934, Hunt was always the character. He was elected to office seven times, but declared the loser in his 1916 bid […]
In pioneer Arizona, among the best places to experience the performing arts were in the mining towns. Striking it rich meant having disposable income and miners, like the well-heeled of the Gilded Age, wanted to demonstrate their sophistication with culture. From the early popular music of ragtime and minstrelsy evolved orchestras, operas and glee clubs […]
The Nilsens will illustrate ways that humor helps people face the challenges of growing old. They will discuss some of the differences between growing old as a male and growing old as a female, and also how growing old differs in a capitalistic society like the United States, as compared to a traditional society like […]
Join Goodwin in a conversation about sustainability issues facing Arizona. Topics can include the coal-burning Navajo Generating Station, the Colorado River dams, uranium mining around the Grand Canyon, wind turbines, water conservation and catchment, the costs of water and electricity, preservation of natural landscapes, and others. The presentation can be focused on one or more […]
Every day we use words and phrases whose roots lie in the American West. Words like “brand,” “maverick,” and “railroaded,” along with phrases like “climb down off your high horse” and “passing the buck” all grew out of the culture and experiences of those who resided west of the Mississippi. These creative words and phrases […]
Join Temple as she presents Elizabeth “Baby Doe” Tabor, the central figure in a western mining frontier saga involving money, divorce, family heartbreak, and pioneer resilience. Baby Doe was admired by miners and hated by “decent” women, yet she captured the heart of the richest man in the West, Horace Tabor. After winning Horace away […]
Early traders traveled through Arizona Territory, selling goods from their wagons, but they soon built stores that evolved into trading and social centers where wool, sheep, and Native arts were exchanged for sugar and salt, pots, pans, bridles, and saddles. Navajo trading posts are best known, but trading posts existed on every reservation in Arizona. […]
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Arizona Humanities builds a just and civil society by creating opportunities to explore our shared human experiences through discussion, learning and reflection.