Monthly Archives: July 2021

UA Anthropology: A Century of Continuity Amid Change, with Dr. Diane Austin / Program, February 12, 2015

“Join us as Diane Austin, Professor and Director of the School of Anthropology and Research Anthropologist with the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA) opens Special Collections’ newest exhibition.

The presentation will highlight some of the key historical and current challenges addressed by University of Arizona anthropologists”

Dr. Diane Austin, head of the Anthropology Dept
The opening drew a nice sized crowd
Dr. Austin speaking to guests
Guests viewing the exhibition

The Wilderness Act Opening Event, Featuring Meg Weesner / Program, September 2, 2014

EVENT SCHEDULE

5:30: Welcoming Remarks by Karen Williams, Dean of The University of Arizona Libraries

5:45: Brief remarks from our guest elected officials Tucson Mayor Jonathon Rothschild and Pima County Board of Supervisors Chairperson, Richard Elias

6:00: Presentation by Meg Weesner, retired National Park Service Ranger

6:45: Reception

Welcome to the opening event for the “Wilderness Act: Arizonans Keeping It Wild for 50 Years” exhibition.

 It has been a great pleasure to work with my co-curator and tonight’s featured speaker, Meg Weesner,  on this exhibit, which celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Wilderness Act and acknowledges the work of three key figures in the environmental movement: Stewart Udall, Morris K. Udall, and Edward Abbey, as well as the works of early and modern wilderness thinkers and writers.

I’d like to thank  Kevin Dahl, program manager of the field office of the National Parks Conservation Association, and Special Collections student assistant Jarrod Mingus,  for their assistance with the exhibit. Curating this exhibit was indeed a labor of love,  and a true team effort!

Thanks also to  the Friends of the University Library and the Dean of the Library, Karen Williams for their support. 

I hope you take some time tonight to examine the documents and photos and to read the quotes and descriptions in each of the exhibit cases. I’m sure you will be pleasantly surprised to learn how fortunate we Arizonans are to have so much wilderness in our midst.

In gratitude,

Bob Diaz

Exhibits and Events Coordinator

Special Collections

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO OF THIS EVENT HERE. (Program starts at 14 minutes into the hour).

Lead curator and featured speaker Meg Weesner
Board of County Supervisors chair, Richard Elias
Tucson Mayor Jonathon Rothschild
Tucson mayor Jonathon Rothschild and other guests viewing the exhibition. Rothschild also spoke at our opening event.

Growing Up In Tucson Panel Discussion / Program, September 17, 2015.

This panel discussion is the second event being offered in conjunction with Special Collections’ exhibit, “Tucson: Growth, Change and Memories.” The exhibit, which explores various aspects of Tucson’s history and growth as an urban community, opens on Aug. 17 and runs through Jan. 14, 2016. The panel features an eclectic group of four Tucsonans, remembering life from the 1950s onward. Joining us to share their stories will be former City Councilwoman Molly McKasson, business owner Katya Peterson, newspaper columnist Ernesto Portillo, Jr., and Lydia Otero, Professor of Mexican American Studies.

Click here to listen to the program (it begins at 52:15 after the hour).

Professor Lydia Otero
Katya Peterson
Molly McKasson
Ernesto Portillo, Jr.
Another packed house
Alva Torres
Katya Peterson, Lydia Otero, Molly McKasson, Bob Diaz and Ernesto Portillo, Jr.
Visitors to our second event, “Growing Up in Tucson”

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back? The Mexican Community of Tucson, 1940-2015 / Program, August 18, 2015.

From the Special Collections website: “This lecture by renowned writer and professor Dr. Thomas E. Sheridan, is the opening event for Special Collections’ new exhibition, “Tucson: Growth, Change, and Memories.” The exhibition explores various aspects of Tucson’s history and growth as an urban community.

Sheridan is a Research Anthropologist at the Southwest Center, which is dedicated to documenting and interpreting the region’s natural and human cultures. He also serves as Professor of Anthropology in the University of Arizona School of Anthropology. He has conducted ethnographic and ethnohistoric research in the Southwest and northern Mexico since 1971 and directed the Mexican Heritage Project at the Arizona Historical Society from 1982-1984. He is the author of a number of works about the history of the region, including “Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941” and “Arizona: A History,” now in its second edition.

The evening’s lecture focuses on changes wrought in the Mexican community in the past 75 years as the result of rapid urbanization. The lecture will be followed by a reception.”

Tom Sheridan spoke to a packed house.
Tom Sheridan and Bob Diaz
This lady was shocked, but happy to find her car parked in front of the Otero House.
Opening night