Founded | November 7, 1884 |
---|---|
Founder | Arizona territorial legislature |
Type | non-profit |
Purpose | Connecting people through the power of Arizona's history |
Website | arizonahistoricalsociety |
The Arizona Historical Society (AHS) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect people through the power of Arizona's history. It does this through four regional divisions. Each division has a representative museum. The statewide divisions are as follows: Southern Arizona Division in Tucson, the Central Arizona Division in Tempe, and the Northern Arizona Division in Flagstaff [1] . It was founded in 1884. [2]
The group was founded as the Society of Arizona Pioneers on January 31, 1884, by physician John C. Handy, his father-in-law William Fisher Scott, and 58 other Tucson pioneers. [3]
With a new railroad being built and change on its way to Tucson, Arizona, pioneers worried that their stories of battles with the desert heat and the Apaches would be lost forever. The society was founded to preserve these stories and provide charitable service work to the local community as a mutual aid society. Original Historical Society members were often prominent members of the community, and their tasks with the society included attending funerals and raising money to help out widows. [2]
Over time, the Society evolved to provide storage for official state papers and collect the histories of many Arizona citizens. The society has faced several periods of financial difficulty, and difficulty storing their collections safely. Collections expanded beyond the capacity of facilities several times, until a large, block-long basement was created to store records and documents at the current Main Museum. [2]
As of 2015 [update] , the Society maintained several museums in the state with the financial support of over 3000 members and dozens of volunteers. [2]
The Arizona Historical Society currently houses a large collection of published and unpublished historical documents in its library and archives division. The collections are divided among 4 locations in Arizona, with each location specializing in certain aspects of history. The society lists its collection specialties as follows:
"Tucson Collections Strengths: Territorial era, Southern Arizona and borderlands, business, genealogy, ranching, politics, mining, military, law, non-profit and grass roots organizations, ephemera, photographs, and maps.
Tempe Collections Strengths: 20th Century, Maricopa County and Central Arizona, oral histories, architectural drawings, TV news reels, aviation, banking, healthcare, business, non-profit organizations, arts and culture, photographs and photographic studios.
Flagstaff Collections Strengths: Territorial era to 1950s, Northern Arizona and Colorado Plateau, business, politics, law, lumber industry, railroads, genealogy, local organizations, Indian Pow Wow records, education, healthcare, maps, oral histories and photographs." [4]
AHS libraries are staffed by knowledgeable librarians who can aid in professional research or answer general research questions at the research help desk.
The historical society publishes the quarterly Journal of Arizona History (originally named Arizoniana). [5] The journal is distributed to members and contains articles about Arizona history. Photo essays and reviews are included along with standard articles. The Historical Society additionally publishes books, a list of which can be found on their website. [6]
Scouting in Arizona has a history starting from the 1910s to the present day, serving youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.
The Arizona–Arizona State football rivalry is a college football rivalry between the University of Arizona Wildcats (UA) and the Arizona State University Sun Devils (ASU).
The United States Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC), at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, is the U.S. Army's primary historical research facility. Formed in 1999 and reorganized in 2013, the center consists of the Military History Institute (MHI), the Army Heritage Museum (AHM), the Historical Services Division (HSD), Visitor and Education Services (VES), the U.S. Army War College Library, and Collections Management (CM). The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center is part of the United States Army War College, but has its own 56-acre (230,000 m2) campus.
The Museum of Northern Arizona is a museum in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, established as a repository for Indigenous material and natural history specimens from the Colorado Plateau.
The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. The mission of the OHS is to collect, preserve, and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people.
The Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS) is a historical society located in the U.S. state of Idaho that preserves and promotes the state's cultural heritage.
Annie Graham Rockfellow was an influential and prolific architect active in Tucson, Arizona during the first half of the 20th century.
The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas.
Sharlot MabridthHall was an American journalist, poet and historian. She was the first woman to hold an office in the Arizona Territorial government and her personal collection of photographs and artifacts served as the starting collection for a history museum which bears her name.
The Tucson Gay Museum maintains an extensive collection of archival materials, artifacts and graphic arts relating to the history of LGBT people in the United States, with a focus on the LGBT communities of Tucson, Arizona and Phoenix, Arizona. It became a member of the Arizona LGBTQIA+ Archives in 2020.
Anna Miller Corbell (1896–1993) was an early 20th century American artist, known for her panoramic landscape paintings of the American Southwest. Corbell was active as a painter for over thirty years. Her subject matter largely consisted of the Southwestern desert with mountain views. Describing herself as "not a modern painter," she worked in a palette of pastel hues to capture the colors and light of the Arizona desert.
The following is a timeline of the history of the area which today comprises the U.S. state of Arizona. Situated in the desert southwest, for millennia the area was home to a series of Pre-Columbian peoples. By 1 AD, the dominant groups in the area were the Hohokam, the Mogollon, and the Ancestral Puebloans. The Hohokam dominated the center of the area which is now Arizona, the Mogollon the southeast, and the Puebloans the north and northeast. As these cultures disappeared between 1000 and 1400 AD, other Indian groups settled in Arizona. These tribes included the Navajo, Apache, Southern Paiute, Hopi, Yavapai, Akimel O'odham, and the Tohono O'odham.
The Pioneer Living History Museum is located at 3901 W. Pioneer Road in Phoenix, Arizona. The museum, also known as Pioneer Village, has 30 historic original and reconstructed buildings from the 1880s and early 1900s on its 90-acre property.
The Mohave Museum of History and Arts in Kingman, Arizona is a private, not-for-profit organization, which was founded in 1961. It focuses on the preservation of the heritage of Northwestern Arizona and of the presentation of history and arts to the public.
Thomas E. Sheridan is an anthropologist of Sonora, Mexico and the history and culture of Arizona and the Southwest. He was selected a Distinguished Outreach Professor at the University of Arizona, and has been affiliated with the Department of Anthropology and the Southwest Center since 2003.
Jewish people have been living in Arizona since the mid-1870s. In 1877, there were 48 Jews living in the Arizona territory. Over succeeding decades, Arizona's Jewish population rose to 2,000 in 1897 and fell to 500 in 1907. By 1973, it had risen again to over 21,000. The Jewish population grew rapidly after World War II. Today, there are over 82,000 Jewish residents in Arizona.
Edith Olive Stratton Kitt was an American clubwoman and historian, who expanded the collections and membership of the Arizona Historical Society as secretary of the society from 1925 to 1947. She was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame in 1983.