There is something for everyone at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library‘s Centennial Celebration:

When: Saturday, February 11, 11am to 5pm
Where: Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Avenue (south of Alameda)
Who: All ages!
Learn more about the Arizona Centennial at AZ 100 Years.

Children will enjoy the family storytime at 11am followed by a craft and Happy Birthday Arizona cake. Don’t forget to take the opportunity to check out books on Arizona’s history, famous people, sports teams, and so on!
Teens will be interested in the games available in the teen room and in the display of the art, essays, letters and scrap book pages that teens have contributed to a time capsule to be sealed and not reopened again until 2062!
Adults will have an opportunity to see the debut of 18 pictures of historical Tucson barrios that will go on permanent display in the Joel D. Valdez Main Library. There will be talks by local historians on the history of Tucson and Arizona place names. Enjoy a reception between the talks with refreshments provided by local barrio businesses such as El Charro and La Caves.

On Saturdays parking is free on the streets and in the city garage beneath the library, accessed via Alameda Street.

As part of the celebration, we will also be unveiling a new photo exhibit honoring the history and heritage of Tucson’s barrios. This exhibit has been made possible through a collaboration with the Arizona Historical Society and this program is made possible by the Arizona Humanities Council.

Saturday, February 11, 2012
11:00am – 1:00pm
In celebration of the Centennial, we will have a Family Storytime beginning at 11 am with Happy Birthday Arizona cake afterwards!

1:00pm – 2:15pm
Dr. Lydia Otero of The University of Arizona’s Department of Mexican American Studies will discuss Tucson’s barrios and her book La Calle. A book signing will follow.

2:15pm – 3:30pm
Enjoy a gala reception with refreshments from local business such as El Charro and Le Caves.
3:30pm – 5:00pm
Place names are like fossil poetry – they afford a kind of folk history, a snapshot in time that enables us to read them and reconstruct how members of a culture in the past assigned names to the places they saw. The U.S. has over 3.5 million place names, and there is no part of the world where nomenclature is so rich, poetic, humorous, and picturesque – a tradition to which Arizona has had more than its share of contributions. In this presentation, Gregory McNamee examines the history of Arizona place names, from Ali Shonak to Zephyr, using lively anecdotes to discuss the little-known stories behind names on the land.
A Second Saturdays Event. An Arizona Centennial Event.

For more events downtown on February 11 (plus 2nd Saturday Downtown) and February 12, read my blog from yesterday (click here).

Happy Early Birthday Arizona on February 14, 2012.

Here’s your chance to watch actor William Holden ride his horse and bring a wagon train to Tucson in 1860. His first impression overlooking Tucson isn’t too positive as he says “Ain’t a pretty sight, is it?” Watch the movie to see if Tucson grows on him.

“Arizona,” the 1940 movie showing

movie poster

Aug 28, 2010

Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: Arizona Historical Society (AHS)
Donation: $5 suggested
Address: 949 E 2nd Street (west of Park Avenue) in Tucson
Phone: 520-628-5774

Contact Name: Anne Felker or Sarah Tunnell
Email: sam.felker@cox.net or stunnell2@cox.net

Website: www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org (link is Tucson Birthday Events)

Actor Jim Easterbrook will introduce the movie “Arizona” with a short talk about Arizona cowboys, as well as his “experiences in western movies and on the set at Tucson’s film studio.” You can also view AHS collections as related to this movie.

The movie set at Old Tucson was built in 1939 for the filming of the movie “Arizona”, which stars William Holden, Jean Arthur, and the stagecoach now on display at the Arizona Historical Society.

Popcorn and refreshments will be available for purchase (no outside food or drink will be allowed).

Contact Name: Anne Felker or Sarah Tunnell
Email: sam.felker@cox.net or stunnell2@cox.net

For the remaining Tucson Birthday events for this birthday month of August, log onto www.tucsonsbirthday.org.

The Kino Heritage Society sponsored an inaugural mass and lecture today at San Xavier del Bac Mission commemorating the 300th Anniversary of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino’s death. The talk was entitled “Arizona’s First Apostle” by Father Greg Adolf, of St. Andrew the Apostle, in Sierra Vista. Father Adolf spoke of Kino’s passion as an “apostolic”, delivering the important missionary mandate, as a Catholic ambassador of God, to include and instruct all peoples of the New World that he encountered. Padre Kino went on 50 expeditions on horseback in his 24 years in Pimeria Alta as a Jesuit missionary starting in 1687, and died in Magdalena, Sonora at age 66 in 1711 (where his grave lies).

Padre Kino

Portrait to the right by Frances O’Brien, courtesy of Arizona Historical Society.

The mission of the Kino Heritage Society is:”to promote the legacy of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino and support his cause for Canonization.”

From the Tucson’s Birthday website:

“The eminent UCLA librarian and author Lawrence Clark Powell described Father Kino as “the noblest Southwesterner of all.” Professor Herbert Bolton, the father of the study of Spanish colonial history in the United States described Father Kino as “the most picturesque missionary pioneer of all North America -explorer, astronomer, cartographer, mission builder, ranchman, cattle king and defender of the frontier.” Professor Bolton continues his description of Padre Kino as the untiring protector of the O’odham and other native peoples. Padre Kino also was an university mathematics professor, area historian and thwarted ship builder. In 1965 the citizens of Arizona honored Padre Kino by dedicating before 700 dignitaries from all over the world a statue of Padre Kino at the United States Statuary Hall located in the United States Capitol Building. Padre Kino was one of Arizona’s two representatives so honored. In 2006 the petition for the cause for Padre Kino’s sainthood was completed with the delivery of over 35 pounds of documents to the Vatican. His cause for sainthood is presently under consideration. Padre Kino was born on August 10, 1645 in Segno Italy, a village located in the foothills of the Italian Alps. While doing his missionary work, Padre Kino traveled over 50 thousand miles, mostly on horseback.”

My husband Professor Albrecht Classen at the University of Arizona has done research and has lectured on Padre Kino and subsequent Jesuit missionaries for the Arizona Humanities Council. See his website: http://www.aclassen.faculty.arizona.edu/.

Upcoming 2010 events in the fall for this Kino 300th Anniversary sponsored by Kino Heritage Society:

October 17, 3 p.m.
Father Kino Concert at St. Augustine’s Cathedral
Stabat Mater by Rossini, University of Arizona Symphony & Orchestra, UA Choir & Community Choir

November 20, 7 p.m.
Concert in Honor of Father Kino’s arrival in Tucson, at St. Augustine’s Cathedral
Tucson Masterworks Chorale, Criolle Mass and music from the New World during Kino’s time

December 11
Latin Mass in honor of Our lady of Guadalupe at Holy Family Church

Stay tuned for updates on these events and for other 2011 events leading up to the 300th anniversary of Padro Kino’s death on March 15. Contact the Kino Heritage Society at 520-245-9564, c/o Diocese of Tucson, P.O. Box 31, Tucson 85702-0031. Chair is Rosie Garcia and Honorary Chair is Rev. Greg Adolf, who gave the lecture today.

Padre Kino on horseback statue in Tucson