In 2005, I became a board member of the Tucson International Mariachi Conference. It was a memorable experience. I hadn’t done a lot of fundraising before, but one of my tasks as a member of this group was to do just that. I came up with the idea of having a film festival, and pulled all my resources together to produce “Cine Mariachi at the Fox”. I worked with the Mexican Consulate in Tucson to secure a beautiful print of the film “Dos Tipos de Cuidado” starring Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete, and I also pulled some strings to secure the Fox Theatre as the venue for the program. My friend Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias was intstrumental in helping me with this. My mariachi friends Johnny Contreras and Olga Flores helped get a small mariachi group together to provide musical entertainment, and we even had ballet folklorico dancers.The promotional materials were done by a marketing group that worked with the Tucson International Mariachi Conference. We even got write-ups in the local press. It was a full day’s worth of fun! Now that these films are freely available on Youtube, I have included them below. Enjoy!
Promotional material designed by Marty Taylor, University of Arizona Libraries
Introduction: This was the second exhibit I curated at the Science Engineering Library. Once again, I found a treasure trove of information in Special Collections, including photographs, news clippings, books, pamphlets and brochures as well as advertisements in local magazines, directories and other sources. I learned a great deal about the topic, including some very interesting facts about tuberculosis and its treatment. Finding information on the Pima County Hospital was also very enlightening, as was learning about the various sanitariums that existed across the community. Another fun project!
News Release:
A new exhibit at the University of Arizona (UA) reviews 100 years of health care history in Tucson. “A Look at Medicine and Medical Facilities in Early Tucson” showcases Tucson’s system, and business, of health care from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. The exhibit is on display from June 19 – Dec. 31, 2012 at the UA Science-Engineering Library, 744 N Highland Ave.
“A Look at Medicine and Medical Facilities in Early Tucson” reviews the history of Tucson health care through three categories: physicians, hospitals, and Tucson’s approach to treating tuberculosis.
Included in the exhibit are profiles, photographs, and biographical information of 9 early Tucson physicians. One of Arizona’s most colorful and distinguished physicians, Dr. George E. Goodfellow, earned his medical degree in 1876 and became a self-taught expert on bullet wounds. He went on to make medical history in Tucson for performing the world’s first successful prostate removal surgery.
Tucson’s hospitals
Of interesting note for Pima County physicians was a county
ordinance passed in 1875 that required local physicians to file their
diplomas from accredited schools with the county recorder or face a fine
up to $50. The Territory of Arizona did not take similar action until
1881.
The exhibit also offers a brief historical review
through photographs, books, and ephemera of Tucson’s early hospitals
including St. Mary’s Hospital, Pima County General Hospital, and the
Veteran’s Administration Hospital.
The patient population at
Tucson area hospitals ballooned in the early 20th century, an increase
brought on by patients seeking treatment for tuberculosis which, by that
time, was responsible for 12 out of every 100 deaths in the United
States. Up to 25% of all newcomers to the Southwest over that period
arrived in the region to recover their health, choosing the Southwest
for its warm, dry air and their faith in its healing properties. Notable
among those who came for the healing climate are Governor A.P.K.
Safford, Sam Hughes, Hiram Dodge, “Doc” Holliday, and Harold Bell
Wright.
More hospitals
Tucson sanatoriums, including Whitwell Hospital, the Desert Sanatorium, Comstock Hospital, Pastime Park, focused on treating tuberculosis patients. While wealthy patients were received care at resort-like sanatoriums, those without financial means were treated in Tentville, a “squalid ghetto” located in the area north of Speedway Blvd. between Park and North First Avenues. Photographs and ephemera included in the exhibit offer a brief history of Tucson’s sanatoriums.
“A Look at Medicine and Medical Facilities in Early Tucson” was curated to coincide with Tucson’s 237th birthday, an occasion where Tucsonans are encouraged to recognize our community’s history, culture, arts and environment.
This exhibit was housed in the Main Library. I enjoyed putting it together. Dr. Brooks Jeffery graciously agreed to give a lecture on the architecture of Tucson. It was a fun project.
Happy Birthday Tucson: A Look at Tucson’s Cultural and Architectural Treasures
This exhibit celebrates Tucson’s 237th birthday. It includes a selection of books and other items about Tucson, and a variety of materials on music and architecture. The section on classical music features music programs going back over 100 years, plus photos of the Temple of Music and Art and the original Tucson Symphony Orchestra. The mariachi music section features local musicians, including Lalo Guerrero, Linda Ronstadt and Los Changuitos Feos as well as other local groups and singers. Featured in the architecture section are a number of churches, including the San Xavier mission. A special section is devoted to photos taken of the Fox Theatre back in the 1930s by the Campbell and Pereira Studios. Included is the original program for the opening of the movie, Arizona, for which the Old Tucson movie set was built. Most of the materials on display are either from the private collection of Joseph R. Diaz or from Special Collections.
Mexican Music in Tucson
Mexican music has long been a staple of Tucson’s cultural life. Today, the Old Pueblo is known as one of the premiere centers for the study and performance of mariachi music, which is taught from the primary grades through the college level in many of the schools in the region. In addition, every April, hundreds of students from throughout the country gather here to participate in the Tucson International Mariachi Conference to learn music from some of mariachi’s top musicians, such as Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, and Tucson’s own Mariachi Cobre. Tucson is also the hometown of the legendary Lalo Guerrero and Linda Ronstadt. Los Changuitos Feos, one of the nations’s first youth mariachi groups, was formed in Tucson in the early 1960’s, and is still going strong. The recordings featured in this exhibit are all of local musicians and are from the private collection of Joseph R. Diaz
Classical Music in Tucson
Tucson’s love for European art music goes back over 100 years. Some of the genre’s greatest orchestras and conductors have graced the stages of the Tucson Opera House, the Rialto Theatre, The Tucson High School auditorium and the Temple of Music and Art (shown in the photo on the right). The Tucson Symphony has a long standing history in the community and the photo in this exhibit is of the original group, founded in the 1920s. The Saturday Morning Music Club, a group of enthusiastic classical music supporters, was for a long time the primary force behind providing the community with rich musical experiences. The programs featured in this exhibit are from UA Special Collections.
Religious Architecture and Sculpture in Tucson
Over the years, Tucson has been home to a number of beautiful church buldings, the best known of which is the San Xavier Mission, a National Historic Landmark which was founded by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Contruction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797. The oldest intact European structure in Arizona, the church’s interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. A renovation of the structure and interior was recently completed. It is truly a Tucson treasure!
More churches of Tucson
The Fox Theatre
Originally budgeted at
$200,000, the Fox Theatre would eventually cost $300,000 including furnishings.
Designed as a dual vaudeville/movie house, the Fox featured a stage, full
fly-loft, and dressing rooms beneath the stage. The combined effects of
“talkies” and the Depression limited the opportunities for live
performance, and the dressing rooms were never completed.
Opening night, April 11, 1930, proved to be
the biggest party the small community of Tucson had ever seen. With Congress
Street closed and waxed for dancing, four live bands, a live radio broadcast
and free trolley rides Downtown, the party was one not to be missed.Those lucky
enough to have bought tickets in advance—3,000 or so people—enjoyed the show
inside as well as out. The film “Chasing Rainbows,” a MovieTone
short, and a Mickey Mouse cartoon were well received by both audiences that
evening, and the Fox Theatre began its 40 year life as the center of Tucson’s
entertainment world.
The photos in this exhibit, taken in the early 1930s, are from the Campbell and Pereira Collection, housed in Special Collections. The program to the movie, Arizona, is from the private collection of Joseph R. Diaz.
Architecture in Tucson
Tucson has a number of beautifully constructed buildings. Featured here are The Pioneer Hotel building, The Geronimo Apartments building, The Pima County Courthouse, the El Conquistador Hotel and the Santa Rita Hotel, as well as a number of private residences and postcards of hotels. For more information on Tucson’s architecture, see A Guide to Tucson Architecture, by R. Jeffery Brooks and Ann M. Nequette. (Science-Engineering Library and Special Collections NA 735.T8 N46 2002).
Exhibit curated by Bob Diaz, Special Collections, The University of Arizona Libraries
Promotional material designed by Marty Taylor, University of Arizona Libraries
Monday, January 22, 2018 – 9:00am to Friday, July 6, 2018 – 6:00pm
Special Collections
The University of Arizona Libraries
Introduction:
Putting this exhibit together was a labor of love. I started out knowing very little about local architect, Judith Chafee, but learned a great deal from organizing her papers, which are housed in Special Collections, and working with her assistant, Kathryn McGuire a local architect and co-author of the book, “Powerhouse: The Life and Work of Architect Judith Chafee. As I poured over her work looking for material to include in the exhibition, I came to the realization that Chafee was an artistic genius, well ahead of her time. She was the first woman to graduate from Yale’s architecture program. She finished at the top of her class, and won prestigious awards along the way. A highlight of the whole experience for me was meeting Chafee’s daughter and granddaughter, who made a special trip to Tucson to see the exhibition. They were very impressed by it. It made me feel just great knowing that they liked it. All that work I had put into this project paid off! Attendance at both of the events that were held in conjunction with the exhibit was beyond my expectations, and both were very well received. This exhibition was one of my favorites.
From the UA News Service:
A remarkable American architect, Judith Chafee was a true trailblazer, both as an architect par excellence, and as a woman in a male-dominated profession. She is celebrated as a visionary modernist whose structures harmoniously blend with their host environments.
This exhibit highlights key events and projects from her life and work. Materials will include photographs, drawings, artwork and more.
A sample exhibit section
Judith Chafee with one of her many pets
“The Architect: Judith Chafee”, story by KUAZ, available for viewing in the exhibit lobby..
“Powerhouse is the first book on the singular life and career of American architect Judith Chafee (1932-1998). Chafee was an unrepentant modernist on the forefront of sustainable design. Her architecture shows great sensitivity to place, especially the desert landscapes of Arizona. Chafee was also a social justice advocate and a highly respected woman in a male-dominated profession. After graduating from the Yale University Architecture School, where her advisor was Paul Rudolph, she went on to work in the offices of legends including Rudolph, Walter Gropius, Eero Saarinen, and Edward Larrabee Barnes. In addition to her architectural legacy, her decades of teaching helped shape a generation of architects. Chafee’s drawings and archival images of her work are complemented by stunning photography by Ezra Stoller and Bill Timmerman”. –from the Princeton Architectural Press site.
It was very nice of Kathy McGuire to mention me in the acknowledgements section (see below) of the book. I learned a great deal from her during our visits, and without her guidance the exhibition would not have been as informative and interesting as it turned out to be.
