Once your family arrived in the west often there was not a doctor within miles. The medical care of the family landed in the hands of the family. Luckily, it was soon learned that the plants held many secrets for someone who was ill. Chew a little willow bark for a headache, pine needles are […]
The American Southwest is world-renown for its colorful and spectacular landscapes like Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, the Superstition Mountains, and the Sonoran Desert. But how did these wonders come to exist and what can ordinary rocks tell us about their ancient origins? You’ll be amazed to learn that the Southwest was once the site […]
In spite of being one of the “Seven Natural Wonders of the World,” humans have not always seen the Grand Canyon in a positive light. First seen by Europeans in the year 1540, the canyon was not comprehended easily. Throughout the entire exploratory era, lasting nearly 320 years, conquistadores, explorers, trappers and miners viewed the […]
Throughout history, the ability of a people to survive and thrive has been tied to environmental conditions. The skill to predict the climatic change of the seasons was an essential element in the ability to “control” those conditions. Seasonal calendars thus became the foundation of early cultures: hunting and gathering, planting and harvesting, worshiping and […]
Using interviews with Sedona Schnebly’s children, Lisa Schnebly Heidinger has put together little-known details about this amazing woman’s life, from being written out of the will for marrying TC Schnebly on her 20th birthday to the fate of the man she didn’t marry. Her story includes the journey west and the comic and tragic details […]
The great West that George Bird Grinnell first encountered in 1870 as a 21-year old man was shortly to disappear before his eyes. Nobody was quicker to sense the desecration or was more eloquent in crusading against the poachers, the hidehunters, and the disengaged U.S. Congress than George Bird Grinnell, the “Father of American Conservation.” Grinnell […]
The American Southwest is world-renown for its colorful and spectacular landscapes like Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, the Superstition Mountains, and the Sonoran Desert. But how did these wonders come to exist and what can ordinary rocks tell us about their ancient origins? You’ll be amazed to learn that the Southwest was once the site […]
Just weeks after Pearl Harbor, the War Department announced the construction of a massive ammunition depot ten miles west of Flagstaff at Bellemont on U.S. Highway 66. Flagstaff’s population exploded from five to twenty thousand. The Army rushed the $17 million project to completion in a spasm of boomtown upheaval. Several thousand Navajo and Hopi […]
Featuring compelling documentaries based on interviews, this presentation shares stories about prominent African Americans who contributed to the life and culture of Arizona. Such luminaries include the late Dr. Eugene Grigsby, Betty Fairfax, Judge Jean Williams, Rev. Warren Stewart, Councilman Calvin Goode, and Carol Coles Henry. Each individual’s life is contextualized using prominent events that […]
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 […]
While doing research on our centennial book, Lisa Schnebly Heidinger developed a treasure trove of anecdotes that wove through the tapestry Arizona, and can custom fit a presentation to any audience, based on geography, interest and local population. These include but are not limited to little heard details about famous figures (like when the Bucky […]
Martha Summerhayes was a refined New England woman who entered the Arizona Territory in 1874 as the young bride of an Army Lieutenant. Traveling in horrific conditions and dreadful heat, she soon despised the wild and untamed land. She gave birth to the first anglo child born at Fort Apache where the native women took […]
Where lies the cure to diabetes? “Ask the prickly pear, or the mesquite bean pod…maybe they will tell you.” This is the answer you may hear from elder instructors of the Hualapai Ethnobotany Youth Project. The ethnobotanical story of the Hualapai Tribe begins with the plant knowledge the people have inherited from their great grandparents […]
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 […]
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 […]
The 1930s and 1940s were the era of Western singing cowboys like Rex Allen, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Herb Jefferies was the African-American singing cowboy, appearing in movies and on stage for African-American audiences. He could ride, rope and sing with the best of them and his story has largely been forgotten. This presentation […]
Featuring a documentary that tells the stories of early African American cotton pickers in El Mirage and in other regions of Arizona, this presentation explores the lives of African Americans who came to the cotton fields from Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma during the 1940s through the 1960s. These individuals made significant cultural, historical, and […]
In many Southwestern matrifocal cultures, Indigenous women’s lives are modeled after female heroes and sacred women who exemplify and express courage and kinship values. Among some tribal cultures, rites of passage celebrate female creativity and the transformative nature of women, hence there was not a need for the concept of feminism. Nevertheless, Indigenous women’s lives […]
Tombstone, which had a reputation, as one of the West’s wildest mining towns, owes its beginning to Ed Schieffelin, who prospected the nearby hills. From nearby Fort Huachuca, Schieffelin told a soldier that the mountains’ rich colors looked very promising for mineral wealth. The soldier said “All you’ll find in those hills is your tombstone”. […]
We have used music to aid healing but only recently have we understood how it works. Music has always been intricately involved in cultures, from lullabies to dirges, work songs to war songs, entertainment to music’s profound role in spiritual expression. There is no culture without it. Thought to have the power to heal the […]
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 […]
When America entered the Second World War, Arizona’s sparse population and mild weather made it an ideal location for training facilities and prisoner of war camps. By war’s end, Arizona had trained more pilots than any other state, hosted the country’s largest POW camp, and was part of the largest military training grounds in history. […]
The Long Walk of the Navajo People, 1864-1868 In 1864, Navajo people were forced to walk over 450 miles to Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico. Imprisoned on a 40-square mile reservation for four long years the people suffered from hunger, loneliness, illnesses, and severe environmental conditions. On June 1, 1868, U. S. officials and […]
The Woman Who Shot Cowboys: Rodeo Photographer Louise L. Serpa Anyone who has ever stared down an angry bull coming full throttle across an arena will understand why rodeo photographer Louise Serpa often uttered the adage, “Never Don’t Pay Attention.” Born into New York society, Louise ended up out west with her nose buried in […]
A Story, A Story: African and African American Oral Tradition and Storytelling When the African slave was brought to the Caribbean and North and South America, s/he brought her oral literature and performance style. This presentation focuses on the transfer of those oral traditions from African culture to African American culture. Such traditions can be […]
Plants, Inspiring the People: Reflections on Hualapai Ethnobotany of the Grand Canyon Where lies the cure to diabetes? “Ask the prickly pear, or the mesquite bean pod…maybe they will tell you.” This is the answer you may hear from elder instructors of the Hualapai Ethnobotany Youth Project. The ethnobotanical story of the Hualapai Tribe begins […]
By the Time They Came to Phoenix: African American Cotton Pickers in Arizona Description – Featuring a documentary that tells the stories of early African American cotton pickers in El Mirage and in other regions of Arizona, this presentation explores the lives of African Americans who came to the cotton fields from Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and […]
Arizona Songbirds: The life stories of Marty Robbins and Linda Ronstadt These two Arizonans were blessed with beautiful and unforgettable singing voices and had more hits than the Arizona Diamondbacks. Songs like El Paso, Big Iron, Yellow Roses for Robbins and Different Drum, Blue Bayou and Skylark for Ronstadt. Marty was a little bit country […]
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