A List of materials used in this exhibit
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!
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).
