Arizona Centennial

Camp Verde Centennial Project Gets Official Nod

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[Source: Steve Ayers, Verde Independent]

The State of Arizona has given its official endorsement to a local project that will celebrate the state’s centennial in 2012.

A letter from the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission, dated Nov. 4, officially notified the Verde Confluence Centennial Committee that their digital storytelling project would be included among dozens of Legacy Projects being carried out by communities and organizations statewide.

Titled “Echoes of the Verde Confluence,” the project will, over the next year, produce a series of three- to five-minute digital videos that will tell bits and pieces of the history of the lower Verde Valley.

The short movies will be stitched together into a full-length presentation and shown to the public on or around Arizona’s 100th birthday on Feb. 14, 2012.

Partners in the project include the Yavapai-Apache Nation, National Park Service, Arizona State Parks, Town of Camp Verde, Beaver Creek Regional Council, Yavapai College, Camp Verde Unified School District, Beaver Creek School, plus some are charter schools and community organizations.

The group received a $2,500 contribution from the National Park Service to purchase digital recording equipment and pay for storytelling workshops for anyone wishing to participate.

Three groups of students from Camp Verde High School are producing the initial videos. One will tell the story of the Wingfield family, another the story of the 1899 murder of Clinton Wingfield and Mac Rodgers and one the story of Main Street, past and present.

The project, however, is not just for students. The public is invited to participate.

“We are encouraging anyone who would like to produce a short history story to contact the Camp Verde Historical Society. We would love to have as many people as possible from Camp Verde and the Beaver Creek communities, participate,” says historical society president Shirley Brinkman.

According to Judy Piner, archivist and video storyteller for the Yavapai-Apache Nation and one of the committee’s technical advisors, a five-minute video takes about 30 to 40 hours to produce.

“We teach workshops for the tribal members, old and young, and the results are phenomenal. Anyone with a desire to tell their story can and should do so. No one needs to feel intimidated by the technology,” Piner says.

Those who like to participate but are unsure what story to tell can contact the historical society. They have lots of suggestions, according to Brinkman.

“There are so many stories to be told – so many good stories. We have lots of historic documents, recordings made by some of the area’s pioneers, photos and other resources that can be used to make a good story a great story,” Brinkman says.

The Camp Verde Historical Society can be reached at (928) 567-9560. The museum, located at 435 S. Main Street, is open Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and by appointment.

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Despite budget cuts, Tombstone refuses to let its state park die

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[Source:  Maria Polletta, Cronkite News Service, AZCapitolTimes.com] –It’s around 90 degrees outside and Mary Evans is buttoned up in a long-sleeved, high-collared white blouse that’s fastened at the neck with a black cameo. A black wool skirt, worn over bloomers, skims the top of her black boots. It looks uncomfortable, but Evans doesn’t seem to mind.

After six years of volunteer work at the Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, Evans says she still gets caught up every time she browses the cases of wedding dresses, children’s shoes, dolls and toys. “Everything in the courthouse is special,” Evans said.

Evans couldn’t imagine losing the iconic building when budget cuts threatened funding for 19 of the state’s 28 parks, including the courthouse, earlier this year. Neither could leaders of this former silver-mining town, which draws tourists from all over the world with attractions like the OK Corral and Boothill Graveyard.

Under an arrangement with Arizona State Parks, the city of Tombstone officially took over the courthouse April 1. A professional service agreement allows the Tombstone Chamber of Commerce to oversee park operations for at least three years, with two more two-year terms possible. Since the courthouse changed hands, park hours have been extended from five to seven days a week, and volunteers have traded in state parks uniforms for period wear, said Patricia Moreno, the park’s manager. Staff and volunteers have also been working to create “living history,” such as trial re-enactments in the courthouse’s upstairs courtroom [to read full article click here].

Mesa Grande Interpretive Trail grand opening is held

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[Source: Kevin Christopher, Arizona Museum of Natural History] — A community vision to bring an archaeological treasure to the public is finally realized!  A grand opening of the Mesa Grande Interpretive Trail [was] held Saturday, March 27 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Mesa Grande, located at West 10th Street and Date/Brown.  Mesa Grande is a major prehistoric Hohokam site that flourished from about 1000-1450 A.D.  The main feature is a large platform mound, about 27 feet high, that covers the size of a football field.  The site is administered by the Arizona Museum of Natural History.

“This is a day we have been looking forward to for a long time.  The opening of the trail will allow people to learn more about this unique site built by the Hohokam and our efforts to save it,” Arizona Museum of Natural History Curator of Anthropology Dr. Jerry Howard said.  The City of Mesa purchased the Mesa Grande ruins to preserve this cultural treasure and open it to the public as an educational and recreational facility.  Mesa Grande is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has also been designated by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission as an Arizona Centennial Legacy Project.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Budget cuts hurting Arizona’s museums; institutions, parks falling into disrepair, forced to close

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[Source: Jim Walsh, Arizona Republic] — Even as Arizona prepares for its centennial in 2012, the state’s history is becoming less and less accessible to the average citizen.  Museums across Arizona are cutting hours, restricting programs, merging or closing altogether in the face of drastic budget problems.  The State Archives, which had been open only two half-days a week, is trying to figure out how to go to a four-day schedule with a diminished staff.

And state parks, many with historical significance, can’t turn enough money at the gate to maintain aging and sometimes-dangerous facilities and stay open.  The impact is significant: In a state where so many people are newcomers, the institutions that can help them connect to their new state’s history are harder to access.  “The more people know about their place, the more likely they are to be good citizens,” said Dan Shilling, an expert in civic tourism and a former executive director of the Arizona Humanities Council.  Museums play an important part in extending that knowledge, Shilling said.  [Note: To read the full article, click here]