The Antiquity of Irrigation in the Southwest

Dusenberry-River Branch Library 5605 E River Rd #105, Tucson, AZ, United States

Before AD 1500, Native American cultures took advantage of southern Arizona’s long growing season and tackled its challenge of limited precipitation by developing the earliest and most extensive irrigation works in all of North America. Agriculture was introduced to Arizona more than 4,000 years before present, and irrigation systems were developed in our state at […]

Arizona Stories: Frontier Characters and Communities – Tucson

Dusenberry-River Branch Library 5605 E River Rd #105, Tucson, AZ, United States

From mammoth hunters and canal builders to Native Americans, Hispanics, Americans, Irish, Serbians, and just about every nationality under the sun, Arizona has always been a land of many cultures. And while the Earps and the Geronimo are world famous, Arizona can also be proud of its unsung men and women and cooperative communities. Here […]

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William H. Emory, The Heroic Opening of the American Southwest – Tucson

Dusenberry-River Branch Library 5605 E River Rd #105, Tucson, AZ, United States

Lieutenant William H. Emory, topographical engineer, rode with General Kearny in the 1846/47 conquest of New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Bold Emory, as he was known at West Point, fought beside the general at the Battle of San Pascual. Throughout his trek from Missouri to California, he recorded the terrain, its people, ruins, flora and […]

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Hopi Quilting Traditions – Tucson

Dusenberry-River Branch Library 5605 E River Rd #105, Tucson, AZ, United States

For centuries, Hopi men grew cotton and wove the fibers into blankets and clothing. In the 1880s, with the arrival of Anglo missionaries and government officials, quilting was introduced to the Hopi people and it quickly became integrated into Hopi culture and ceremony with quilts being used in every Hopi household. Hopis today are 4th […]

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The U.S. Constitution: What It Says and How It Works – Tucson

Dusenberry-River Branch Library 5605 E River Rd #105, Tucson, AZ, United States

Most Americans think they know what the Constitution says but few have actually examined it. Here is an opportunity to review the concepts and composition of the document that functions as the legal foundation and framework of the nation. The Constitution provides principles for federal relations with the nation’s constituent states, citizens, and inhabitants. It […]

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Epics of the American Southwest: Hopi, Dine and Hispanic Narratives of Heros and Heroines in Mythic Literature

Dusenberry-River Branch Library 5605 E River Rd #105, Tucson, AZ, United States

Too often the claim is heard that there is very little ancient history or literature in the United States. Nothing could be further from the truth. Whether it is the Hopi epics of the wanderings of Long Sash and the exploits of the Koshare twins; the Navajo legends that connect the cultures of the Southwest […]

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Telling It Like It Was: Interviews with Arizona Pioneer Women

Dusenberry-River Branch Library 5605 E River Rd #105, Tucson, AZ, United States

During the Depression the Federal Writers Project conducted interviews with over 144 women who arrived in the Territory between 1850 and 1890. The women spoke of their long and dangerous journeys, and with their words paint pictures of the hardships and life threatening situations of their frontier existence. Through hard work, dedication, tenacity and humor […]

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FRANK Talks: Stories of Arizona

Dusenberry-River Branch Library 5605 E River Rd #105, Tucson, AZ, United States

Stories of Arizona: Historic Places, Spaces and People Marshall Shore, the Hip Historian Stories about Jacob Waltz (the Lost Dutchman,) the Curse of the Red Ghost, The Masque of the Yellow Moon and The Arizona Biltmore are just a few of the fascinating stories that provide us with glimpses of Arizona’s past. Have you heard […]

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Swing Into History

Dusenberry-River Branch Library 5605 E River Rd #105, Tucson, AZ, United States

With the exception of the most ardent collectors and older generation, the influence and legacy of the big bands is largely forgotten despite their overwhelming popularity and significant role in early radio. Join Larson as he revisits the sounds America listened and danced to for more than three decades. Learn how iconic artists like Glenn […]

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