Thursday, October 22, 2015

Searching for a historian



As shown by the October 14th post, the AHS board has no apparent interest in early Arizona history.  That is indicated by their unwillingness to even discuss the preservation of historic mining equipment abandoned by the AHS. That equipment is now rusting and rotting in front of the empty mineral museum building.

The history of the early prospectors and miners is the early history of Arizona. Their efforts supported the construction of the railroads which opened the territory to farmers, ranchers, and others. That is why volunteers (non AHS) spent tens of thousands of hours over two decades to relocate, repair, and reassemble the equipment. The AHS shows no appreciation for either the history or the extraordinary volunteer effort.

Is there still a real historian in the AHS? Is anyone in the AHS interested in preserving that historic mining equipment?

12 comments:

  1. The AHS no longer has any historians on staff! The director of the Papago Park Museum has no history background much less museum background. Look at her resume on "Linkedin"
    Bill Ponder is an administrative minion.
    Dr. Ann Woosley wrote a photo book from Arcadia Press on Tucson. That just may be her only book. Impressive. LOL
    They did have a Jim Turner on staff for a few years. He spent most of his time giving slide lectures to women's service clubs and when Ann Woosley got tired of him he stated in his website that he "retired" from the AHS. Most people who work for the State of Arizona who "retire" normally have worked for at least 20 years.He published a picture book on Arizona history. Seems to be what they do there now. Picture books.

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  2. Anyone who knows you, Dick, is laughing their sides out.
    As a research engineer, you can also research history when you want--AHS's in particular. How could the President of AHS, who insisted in meeting face to face,
    decline the opportunity at a site reeking with history? It would have been a historic event and something that really needed attention.

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  3. It's plain that the AHS needs a historian. But they really need a fundraiser position. Oh....that's what a director does.

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    1. How much money has Woosley raised for the agency? How much has the Board of Directors raised? The AHS needs to publish those figures.

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  4. With no credible record of running history museums with respectable attendance in AZ, AHS is now part of a big project with the U of A to develop a mineral/history museum in Tucson, and abandon the kids they displaced when they violated their statutes and closed and kept all of the property from the Mining and Mineral Museum. Naturally the grandiose planning will happen without first raising the money to fund it by either AHS or the U of A. In the meantime, the Tucson group appears to want the MMM to stay closed, so they can get the State Mineral Collection in Tucson.
    And if their big plans work out, maybe sometime they will start a satellite in Phoenix. So, the kids and teachers in Phoenix should just wait more than the 4 years they have already waited for another AHS unfunded project? How caring of them.!!!

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    1. You make some very good points. In reference to you first sentence. The AHS had great attendance and operated a good program before Ann Woosley became director. With no fund raising skills or interest in even coming out of her office and a do-nothing Board of Directors the AHS has been falling down for a while.

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    2. And the attendance dropped right after Bill Ponder lied to the Arizona Legislators about how much the AHS would make if they charged admissions fees. He told them the agency would make hundreds of thousands of dollars. What a fool. But again how could he know if he never leaves his office.

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  5. I agree. The Tucson taxpayers have a right to see all of the fancy plans for the huge go into debt propositions coming up. How much money have the U of A Committee and AHS raised to actually run what they are planning and pay for salaries, utilities etc.
    They are both state funded agencies, and the state is not going to fund this for them.

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  6. Tucson may have another Rio Nuevo on the way. This one may die from failure to plan realistically and raise money first to protect taxpayers. There is never a guarantee that after a proposition passes (like the one for the Court House Building) that the next phase, usually explained with big glowing plans, has funding and will happen. Taxpayers beware!

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  7. I would remind the public the track record of the University of Arizona in Rio Nuevo projects. Millions upon millions were wasted on projects that were never built. The Rainbow Bridge comes to mind and the Science Center. Now the U of A wants to team with Arizona Historical Society! Their record at Rio Nuevo is $1,400,000 for nothing.
    If anyone thinks that the Tucson Museum of Art will give up square footage in the Pima County Courthouse they need their head examined. Why would they give up space to a Mineral Museum? The Mineral Museum at the Courthouse is not mentioned in the Bond.

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  8. What space will the University of Arizona give for a Mineral Museum? In the basement of the Flandrau Planetarium?

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    1. The AHS closed a major facility and dispersed it's collection. They later opened a "gallery" at the Phoenix museum. The gallery exhibit was lame at best and the "curator" who was in charge is now working at an insurance call center!
      So now we hear the AHS wants to partner with the University of Arizona on a new facility. That "new" facility "may" be in the old Pima County Courthouse in Tucson. But there is no record of a facility in the Pima County Bond election for early November. Do they think the Tucson Museum of Art will give up any space?
      The University of Arizona wasted tens of millions of dollars for projects that were never started. Just like the AHS--but the AHS only threw away $1,400,000.
      Don't let either of these two robbers steal from the taxpayers again.
      If the University of Arizona wants these minerals then let them open a museum at the Flandrau Planetarium or someplace else. But the next problem will be how will the visiting public get there.

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