DATE: 11/6/2023
TIME: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
COST: $23.00

General Membership Meeting, Speaker, & Lunch

A General Membership Business Meeting and presentation will be held November 6, 2023 in the Steele Auditorium at the Arizona Heritage Center. Lunch will follow.

Dr. John Nathan Mack presents "The Selling of the Grand Canyon: William Haskell Simpson and the Building of El Tovar."  In the post-civil War period of U.S. history, national attention shifted to the canyons and deserts of the American Southwest. The Anglo-American "discovery" of the Southwest served many purposes, not the least of which was to aid the nation's search for identity in the post-bellum decades. This presentation discusses the significance of the American Southwest in the early 20th century by focusing on the efforts of William Haskell Simpson (Assistant Passenger Agent of the Atchison, Topeka, and Sante Fe Railway) and the Harvey Company to coordinate, sustain, and profit from American interest in the region by building and the promoting the El Tovar at the Grand Canyon. The presentation concludes that by connecting the austere beauty of the desert and its ancient peoples to the cultural values of the late 19th and 20th centuries, the ATSF Railroad and Harvey Company played a pivotal role in creating the dominant mythology of the American Southwest.

Dr. Mack is returning as speaker for the Historical League, back by popular demand. 

Lunch may be purchased online or reserve your place with Susan Howard and pay by check or cash by Thursday, November 2nd at 5:00 PM. Members with reservations are responsible for payment even if unable to attend. 

 

 


DATE: 12/4/2023
TIME: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
COST: $23.00

General Membership Meeting, Speaker, & Lunch

Join us for a General Membership Business Meeting, Bob Boze Bell's presentation "Highlights of Route 66 in Arizona," and a holiday luncheon at the Arizona Heritage Center.

"The 66 Kid," author Bob Boze Bell, grew up in Kingman, Arizona (one of the quintessential Route 66 towns). He will enliven our holidays as he offers insights into the people who made Route 66 run: from the neon-lit motels to the greasy-spoon diners, and even the shady roadside attractions. Mr. Bell offers a highly illustrious account of the world's most famous highway full of his personal observations and recollections along with exciting first-person accounts from people who lived, worked, and played along the road.

Bob Boze Bell is an author and artist who has written many books on the history of life in the Southwest including on living around and traveling on historic Route 66. Growing up on Route 66 turned out to be a major influence on his interest in the history of the wild west. He has written a dozen books on Old West characters like Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, and Wild Bill Hickok. He is also the President and Executive Director of True West magazine. As a coming attraction, watch for Bob and Marshall Trimble as they reprise this information in a new venture called The 66 Kids: Legends and Hilarity on The Mother Road.

Lunch may be purchased online or reserve your place with Susan Howard and pay by check or cash by Thursday, November 30, 2023, at 5:00 PM. Members with reservations are responsible for payment even if unable to attend. 

 


DATE: 1/8/2024
TIME: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
COST: $23.00

General Membership Meeting, Speaker, & Lunch

Join us for a General Membership Business Meeting, speaker Diana Pardue on "Southwest Jewelry," and lunch at the Arizona Heritage Center. 

Diana Pardue is Chief Curator at the Heard Museum, where her work has focused upon both historic and contemporary Native American arts. Her publications include Symmetry in Stone: The Jewelry of Richard I. Chavez (2017), Awa Tsireh: Pueblo Painter and Metalsmith (with Norman Sandfield, 2017), Over the Edge: Fred Harvey at the Grand Canyon and in the Great Southwest (with Kathleen Howard, 2016), Native American Bolo Ties: Vintage and Contemporary Artistry co-authored with Norman Sandfield (2011), Shared Images: The Innovative Jewelry of Yazzie Johnson and Gail Bird (2007), The Cutting Edge: Contemporary Southwest Jewelry and Metalwork (1997), and Inventing the Southwest: The Fred Harvey Company and Native American Art co-authored with Kathleen Howard (1996). Three publications received regional book awards and Pardue received the 2009 Curatorial Excellence Award from the Apple Valley Foundation in California for the exhibit Mothers & Daughters: Stories in Clay. 

Lunch may be purchased online or reserve your place with Susan Howard and pay by check or cash by Thursday, January 4, 2024, at 5:00 PM. Members with reservations are responsible for payment even if unable to attend.