September 11, 2024
Dr. Anita Huizar-Hernandez
Con Artists in the Archives

The bizarre 19^th century “Peralta Land Grant” scheme in Arizona tests the limits of how ideas about race, citizenship and national expansion are forged. Drawing from a wide variety of sources, Dr. Huizar-Hernandez argues that the creation, collapse and eventual forgetting of Reavis’ scam, forgeries and fraud reveals the mechanisms by which narratives, real and imaginary, forge borders. Dr. Huizar-Hernandez is the author of Forging Arizona: A History of the Peralta Land Grant and Racial Identity in the West.

October 9, 2024
Mark Vinson
Emergence and Evolution: A Celebration of Tempe Architecture

From the Hohokam to Frank Lloyd Wright, the built environment of Tempe reflects the cultures and cultural aspirations of its builders and architects. Mark Vinson is a Registered Architect and Certified Planner with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from Arizona State University. He was the City of Tempe’s founding Historic Preservation Officer and City Architect and is now engaged in private practice as VinsonStudio PLLC.

November 13, 2024
Bill Staples, Jr.
Japanese American Baseball

Few baseball fans know about the Japanese American Nisei Leagues, or of their most influential figure, Kenichi Zenimura. A talented player who excelled at all nine positions, he was also a respected manager and would become the Japanese American community’s baseball ambassador. Author Bill Staples, Jr. has written the first biography of the “Father of Japanese American Baseball,” Kenichi Zenimura.

January 8, 2025
Mark Richwine
Tempe’s Tapestry of Parks

Tempe has 50 parks for recreation, picnics, places to walk the dogs, enjoy water features, biking, paddle boats and more. Hear how the network of parks was developed, how their amenities continue to be developed and why Tempe has earned national awards for setting aside these get-away places for its citizens. Mark Richwine is the retired Tempe Parks and Recreation Director and has spent 31 years in parks management.

February 12, 2025
Dallas Teat
Arizona’s African American Barbers

The history of Southwestern African American barbers is a complex spiderweb of interesting stories and facts having origins in Arizona’s territorial days. The documentary ‘Arizona’s African American Barbers’ examines the intricate relationship between barbers and the surrounding communities. For over twenty years Dallas has visually preserved portions of Arizona’s rich African American history.

March 12, 2025
Amy Douglass
Tempe’s Images on Stone 

The Native Americans who lived in the Tempe area centuries ago left images pecked into rock outcrops as a testament to their presence. What are these images? Why were they created and what could they mean? Amy Douglass will attempt to shed light on these enigmatic images. Amy has conducted archaeological fieldwork in New York, Arizona, and New Mexico. For 26 years, she was the Administrator of the Tempe History Museum and during her tenure oversaw the conversion of the original Tempe Public Library into the museum as it is today.

April 9, 2025
The Okemah Community Historical Foundation
The History of Okemah, Tempe’s African American Community

Okemah was a once-vibrant African American community in southeast Phoenix, from 32^nd St. to 48^th St., and from Broadway Rd. to the Salt River bottom. Growth in Okemah began around 1910 but decline started in the early 1960s when the neighborhood was bisected by the I-10 freeway and the area was zoned for industrial development, driving families away. Today, the Okemah Foundation provides historical perspectives of the people, community infrastructure, and lifestyle that residents enjoyed when Okemah was a place called home.

May 14, 2025
Dr. Richard Haefer
Arizona’s Indian Music

With more than 20 different indigenous cultures living in Arizona, there is a vast range of different musical sounds varying from multiple vocal timbres and tensions to instrumental practices all performed within a variety of musical styles from traditional to modern, pop, opera, country, and rap. Dr. Richard Haefer is Professor Emeritus at ASU, where he taught a variety of courses in the Music Department for 36 years. He has studied North American Indian music and Gregorian Chant for more than 50 years. Dr. Haefer is Founder of ASU’s legendary ASU Mariachi Program and directed the program and mentored students for 25 years.

 

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