Rough transition

Although the mineral museum is being transferred from the AHS to the AZGS, the AZGS is also being consolidated with the U of A and there is no transition plan. As a result, it will be some time before the AZGS can focus on the musuem transfer.

Details are available at www.arizonageology.blogspot.com/2016/05/azgs-transfer-to-university-of-arizona.html

Transition schedule

As revised by SB 1530, state statutes will transfer the mineral museum from the Arizona Historical Society to the Arizona Geological Survey as of mid August 2016. However, the date the mineral museum will reopen cannot be determined at this time.

Because the AHS vacated the historic building in 2011, it cannot be reoccupied now until some upgrades are made. Some detail on these requirements are presented in the Friday, May 20th post on http://repository.azgs.az.gov/aggregator/sources/1

Complete but only preliminary requirements are in a May 19th ADOA report. Meanwhile, the AZGS itself is going through a transition as it is being consolidated into the U of A.

 

Mineral Museum Transfer

In March of 2016, the Senate passed the mineral museum restoration (SB 1440) bill by 24 to 2. It would have passed just as easily in the house because only two Representatives voted against a nearly similar bill in 2015.  However, it was never put to a House vote. The House Appropriations Committee did not schedule a public hearing, and that had to happen before the full House could vote on the bill.

Therefore, the Senate included it into SB1530 as a floor amendment during the last week of the session. On May 10, the Governor signed that bill. SB 1530 transfers the mineral museum from the AHS to the Arizona Geological Survey, and also consolidates the Survey with the University of Arizona.

Details about the transfer are available on www.arizonageology.blogspot.com  (May 4^th and May 10^th posts).

Independent verification

Various prior posts have proven, with ample references, that the current Arizona Historical Society has corrupted its history and celebrated its 150^th anniversary 20 years too soon.  The following text provides independent verification of this conclusion.

An article by Al Bates, referenced below, opens as follows:

Contrary to popular belief, the Arizona Historical Society as incorporated by the first territorial legislature did exist, although briefly.¹ It was organized in Prescott and officers were elected in November 1864. Its existence ended two years later when it merged with a rival organization which itself had but a brief life.

Endnote number 1 then reads as follows:

1 Today’s Arizona Historical Society was founded in Tucson in 1884 (at the instigation of Charles D. Poston and Sam Hughes) as the Society of Arizona Pioneers. ... In 1897 the Society of Arizona Pioneer’s name was changed to the Arizona Pioneers Historical Society, and in 1971 it became known as the Arizona Historical Society.

The conclusion is irrefutable: there is no historical connection between the first and second Arizona Historical Societies. The current AHS was not founded in 1864 by the Territorial Legislature as it claims on its website and literature.

Reference:

Bates, Al, Arizona Territory’s Earliest Historical Societies, Prescott Corral, Territorial Times, Issue # 15, Vol. III #1. Spring 2015, pp 27-30 (http://www.prescottcorral.org/TT15/index.htm)