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Information provided by the Pinal County Historical Museum

The Pinal County Historical Museum will re-open on Thursday, Sept 1st at 11:00am. We are open on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11:00am to 4:00pm. On Sundays, we are open from 12:00pm to 4:00pm. We are located at 715 S. Main St in Florence. This is the place to learn about the history of Florence and see many unique exhibits.

We are pleased to announce our Speakers Program Schedule for the coming season. Mark your calendars so you don’t miss a single one of these interesting programs. These programs are presented free of charge at the museum and each starts at 2:00pm.

Speaker’s Programs 2011-2012

October 9, 2011

Betsy Fahlman

Adventurous Spirits: Arizona’s Women Artists 1900-1950

The early resident art community of Arizona was comprised mostly of women, and this talk explores the varied careers of five of these independent and talented artists. One of the first to arrive was Kate Cory, who came to Oraibi in 1905. She remained seven years in Hopiland, producing a remarkable series of paintings and photographs, before moving to Prescott in 1912. Marjorie Thomas arrived in Scottsdale in 1909 with her brother in 1909, who had moved here for his health. Lillian Wilhelm Smith came to the state in 1913 with her cousin by marriage, Zane Grey. She illustrated a number of his books. Her second husband was a cowboy, and together they ran a trading post and guest ranch. Jessie Benton Evans settled in Scottsdale in 1923, and her desert villa became a social center for local artists. She produced a series of beautiful Impressionist desert landscapes. The twenties brought Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton, who, with her husband Harold, founded the Museum of Northern Arizona in 1928. Other women artists who settled in the state will also be discussed, including architect Mary Jane Colter, as will the many women artists who visited, several sponsored by the Santa Fe Railroad.

November 13, 2011

Dr. Robert Kravetz

Healthseekers in Arizona

Arizona’s unique climate was the main attraction for the influx of new residents in the late 19th century. Nineteenth century medicine had little to offer the disease-ridden population, and therapeutic travel and climate of the area provided an attractive alternative. Arizona, with its pure dry air, had been called “nature’s sanitarium”. Tent cities sprang up to accommodate these individuals. There were sanitariums and spas with their curative waters in both the desert and pine-scented mountains. The legend died in early 20th century because of new medical knowledge, as well as resentment and hostility toward the “healthseekers”. This important group made significant contributions to the territory and the state.

January 15, 2012

Heidi Osselaer

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and Stage Coaches and Boats, too): Women Travel in Arizona

Arizona has some of the most stunning scenery in the world, rugged mountains and canyons, swift rivers, and vast desert. Until recently, traveling over this terrain was quite an adventure. In this presentation, Dr. Osselaer will share what it was like to rise in a stage coach over rocky roads cradling an infant and holding a rifle to stave off attacks, or to travel by steamboat or ferry on the Colorado River before it was dammed. Meet women like army wife Martha Summerhayes, school teacher and suffrage leader Josephine Brawley Hughes, the Harvey Girl waitress, Barry Goldwater’s personal pilot Ruth Reinhold, as well as other daring women who braved Arizona’s extreme elements.

February 11, 2012

Jim Turner

Pictorial History of Arizona

Jim Turner captures Arizona’s history with engaging words accompanied by scenic and historic images that define the spirit of this last frontier outpost of the continental United States. Arizona is a colorful, comprehensive, and exciting history of the Grand Canyon State from its prehistoric origins, to its definitive Native American, Spanish, and Wild West cultures, to its present biotech industries. Explore Arizona in all its rugged grandeur and historical environment.

March 11, 2012

Karen Leong

Japanese-American Internment In Arizona

The state of Arizona is of particular interest to those who want to learn more about the Japanese internment during World War II. The only two internment camps located on American Indian land were on the land of the Gila River Reservation and the Colorado River Indian community-both in Arizona. The two camps at Gila River and Poston, respectively, brought close to 30,000 new residents to Arizona in 1942. Japanese Americans at both camps made material contributions to Arizona’s infrastructure and economy while interned. Unlike in other western states, some in Arizona’s Japanese American community were not removed, and their experiences for the most part have been overlooked in histories of internment. This talk will address the complexities of the internment in Arizona and for Arizonans.