The prior post suggested it is time for
the AHS Board of Directors to investigate the distorted history of the AHS.
Further information indicates that would be useless. The Board itself has bought
into the false history.
In April 2015, the AHS sent a letter to
the Sierra Vista Herald about the veto of SB1200 (mineral museum restoration). Prior posts have debunked the claims that
letter made about SB1200 and related circumstances. The badly flawed letter
ended with the following somewhat belligerent statement:
In 1864, the Legislative Assembly of Territorial
Arizona created the Arizona Historical Society and directed it to collect and
preserve “all historical facts” including “geological and mineralogical
specimens.” In the face of challenges and critics, the Arizona Historical
Society will continue to do just that.
Now, it is has been discovered that the
phrases in quotes were extracted from the acts of the 1864 Arizona Territorial
Legislature. They applied to the FIRST
AHS which went defunct after a few years. They had no connection whatever to
the Society of Arizona Pioneers, from which the AHS emerged many decades later.
The present day AHS (the SECOND in the State’s history) is
dysfunctional at all levels. Even the Board does not know what the mission of
the AHS is. Only rigorous Legislative oversight can clean up this mess.
References:
Acts, Resolutions and Memorials adopted
by the First Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Arizona (September 26 to
November 10, 1864). This booklet is in a bound volume by the University of
Michigan Law School. The link is:
Sierra Vista Herald
A4
FRIDAY APRIL 24, 2015
OUR
READERS’ VIEWS
Taking an issue with an editorial
To the
Editor:
An April 13
opinion of the Sierra Vista Herald (OUR VIEW: Let’s end the honeymoon)
lambasted Governor Doug Ducey for vetoing SB 1200, which would have transferred
ownership of the former Mining and Mineral Museum from the Arizona Historical
Society to the Arizona Geological Survey.
Before you
decide if the governor’s veto was right or wrong, take a moment to understand
what actually transpired in the years leading up to his action. The museum was
not “closed without reason.” In 2010, Governor Jan Brewer intended to create a
Centennial Museum to celebrate 100 years of Arizona history. The building tabbed
for that role was the
Mining and
Mineral Museum, and the Arizona Historical Society was selected to operate it. A
$15 million museum was imagined, with exhibits honoring the famous five Cs of
Arizona: cotton, cattle, copper, climate and citrus.
Then, the
Great Recession hit, and the project stalled. A group of private citizens and business
leaders charged with raising the $15 million could only raise $1.5 million.
Engineering and architectural reviews of the building revealed serious structural
problems which forced the 90-year-old building to be closed, with no money
available for repairs.
With that,
Arizona lost a popular museum which offered important insights into the history
of the mining industry. Proponents of the Mining and Mineral Museum felt
slighted, understandably so. While the fate of that building remains
unresolved, the Arizona Historical Society has worked hard “so school kids
could learn more about Arizona’s impressive mining and mineral history” as the
paper’s editorial suggests. Dedicated mining and mineral exhibit space is open
at the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park in Tempe. Minerals in
storage have been moved to appropriate and safe environments. A full digital inventory
has been created for the first time; anyone can view it
at www.ArizonaHistoricalSociety.org/NaturalHistory. AHS loans mineral specimens, exhibits and educational materials to
qualified institutions and organizations around the state – free of charge.
People can see these displays in Tempe, Tucson, Prescott, Jerome, Miami, Casa
Grande, Cave Creek and, soon, Yuma. New resources for school children and educators
are helping them connect with this integral piece of Arizona history. Rock and mineral
kits for teachers have been retooled –they are now light enough to be shipped,
which expands the reach and impact of Arizona’s mineralogical collection.
In 1864,
the Legislative Assembly of Territorial Arizona created the Arizona Historical
Society and directed it to collect and preserve “all historical facts”
including “geological and mineralogical specimens.” In the face of challenges
and critics, the Arizona Historical Society will continue to do just that.
Leonard
J. Marcisz
President
and Chairman of the Board,
Arizona
Historical Society