Saturday, March 24, 2012

Rewriting Arizona history?


The previous post discussed a scheduled Centennial Conference presentation that included the Arizona Experience Museum (AKA the Arizona Centennial Museum). A year ago that museum was being billed as the “centerpiece of the centennial celebration” and as the “number one signature project." Now, that presentation has suddenly vanished from the program.  Apparently, the centennial conference will ignore the “centerpiece”.

Also gone is a presentation about mining:

FROM THE GROUND UP, Vivia Strang, Arizona State Historic Preservation Office

It would be impossible to write the history of Arizona without including a long and colorful chapter on mining. From the time Coronado came searching for the Seven Cities of Cibola, the quest for mineral wealth has never died, and the history of Arizona is etched with tales of gold, silver, and copper. More than 400,000 mining claims have been recorded in Arizona, and it is estimated that over the years more than 4,000 companies were formed for the purpose of mining.

Apparently, a “long and colorful chapter” of Arizona history is simply being erased.  Are Arizona historians afraid of recent history?  Will the elimination of the top rated and historic Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum as a result of the Arizona Centennial Museum boondoggle be ignored? Is Arizona history being rewritten?

Note: Helpful links to this blog are being routinely removed from the Centennial Conference Facebook page.

1 comment:

  1. How interesting. I began looking at this convention after the previous blog entry. Those of us involved with museums should be given an update on the AZ Experience Museum. The now total lack of sessions on it seems suspect. The rumor is that it is dead due to funding and too much serious controversy. However, it would be helpful for those of us in the museum business to discuss the project and learn from it. Hiding from problems doesn't help any of us serve our citizens. Even those with small community museums want to know and learn.

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