The History of the River Runners of the Grand Canyon

The final installment of Sun Valley Lodge’s Discover Arizona series will be held on Wednesday, April 28th at 10:00 AM in the Lodge’s Wriston Lounge. Historian Todd Weber will present “The History of the River Runners of the Grand Canyon”

Using a visually rich and colorful presentation, Todd Weber, dressed as J.W. Powell, will carry his listeners along a historical timeline. Beginning with a Hopi legend, he will take his audience through the years of human history in the Grand Canyon to the river- runners of today. The John Wesley Powell expedition, the ambitions of industrialists, and the mystery of the Hydes disappearance will all be discussed as Todd uncovers the centuries of human history buried in the austere and beautiful walls below the rim of the canyon.

Todd Weber became enthralled with history as a child, and by his teenage years was already building a collection of clothing and accouterments representing the explorers and fur traders of the west. Years of reading journals and the historical accounts of the fascinating characters of the past, Todd became self taught on the facts and details of various periods of America’s history. Over the last 25 years, he has taught countless groups of all ages. His collections of tools, arms, accouterments and period clothing add to his presentations, making them very visual and memorable.

The Discover Arizona series consists of five programs that each feature a different aspect of Arizona history presented by an accomplished speaker. The series is made possible through a grant from the Arizona Humanities Council.

Discover Arizona Celebrates Pioneering Arizona Women Artists

Sun Valley Lodge’s Discover Arizona series will celebrate pioneering Arizona female artists with a presentation on Wednesday, April 21st at 10:00 AM in the Lodge’s Wriston Lounge. The fifth installment of the series is entitled “Adventurous Spirits: Arizona’s Women Artists, 1900-1950” and will be presented by Betsy Fahlman, Ph.D. of Tempe.

The early resident art community of Arizona was comprised mostly of women, and Dr. Fahlman’s talk explores the varied careers of five of these independent and talented artists. One of the first to arrive was Kate Cory, who came to Oraibi in 1905. She remained seven years in Hopiland, producing a remarkable series of paintings and photographs, before moving to Prescott in 1912.

Marjorie Thomas arrived in Scottsdale in 1909 with her brother in 1909, who had moved here for his health. Lillian Wilhelm Smith came to the state in 1913 with her cousin by marriage, Zane Grey. She illustrated a number of his books. Her second husband was a cowboy, and together they ran a trading post and guest ranch.

Jessie Benton Evans settled in Scottsdale in 1923, and her desert villa became a social center for local artists. She produced a series of beautiful Impressionist desert landscapes. The twenties brought Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton, who, with her husband Harold, founded the Museum of Northern Arizona in 1928.

Other women artists who settled in the state will also be discussed, including architect Mary Jane Colter, as will the many women artists who visited, several sponsored by the Santa Fe Railroad.

Betsy Fahlman received her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Delaware. She is a Professor of Art History at Arizona State University, where she has taught since 1988. A specialist in American art of the 19th and 20th centuries, she is the author of New Deal Art in Arizona (University of Arizona Press 2009). The Cowboy's Dream: The Mythic Life and Art of Lon Megargee (2002).

The Discover Arizona series consists of five programs that each feature a different aspect of Arizona history presented by an accomplished speaker. The series is made possible through a grant from the Arizona Humanities Council.

All of the programs are free and open to the public. Sun Valley Lodge is located at 12415 N. 103rd Avenue in Sun City. For more details please call 623-933-0137.

The Harvey Girls: History, Culture, and Myth at Discover Arizona

The third installment of Sun Valley Lodge’s Discover Arizona series will be presented by historian Ann-Mary Lutzick of Winslow on Wednesday, April 14th at 10:00 AM in the Lodge’s Wriston Lounge.

Ms. Lutzick will explore the historical and cultural repercussions of the Fred Harvey Company’s use of “Harvey Girls” in Arizona. The famous Fred Harvey Company operated its exceptional chain of restaurants and hotels along the Santa Fe Railway from 1876 through the 1950s. Among Harvey’s many pioneering innovations was the widespread employment of “women of character,” the Harvey Girls. Subject to strict wardrobe and conduct requirements, these single women were asked to leave their families and towns, and to commit to a term of service or forfeit half their pay. Many of them did just that in order to marry local men and settle down, and the mythology that surrounds the Harvey Girls credits them with “civilizing” the Southwest. Their determination and sense of adventure, in a time when few women held jobs outside the home, exemplified the changing roles of women in America and the West. This visual presentation features images of the famous “Harvey Girl” waitresses, who insured that the Fred Harvey Company’s impact on the American West was cultural and well as culinary.

Ann-Mary J. Lutzick worked for Arizona Humanities Council from 1999 to 2008, and is currently coordinating their Smithsonian traveling exhibition Key Ingredients: America by Food. She is also an adjunct instructor of U.S. History at Northland Pioneer College. Ann-Mary received an M.A. in Public History/History from ASU, and a history B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Historian to Discuss Geronimo's Surrender at Sun Valley Lodge

The second program in Sun Valley Lodge’s Discover Arizona series is entitled “Geronimo's Surrender: The 1886 C. S. Fly Photographs.” It will be presented by historian Jay Van Orden on Wednesday, April 7th at 10:00 AM in the Lodge’s Wriston Lounge.

Mr. Van Orden will discuss inaccuracies in the historical accounts of Geronimo’s surrender to federal troops in March of 1886. Van Orden has reexamined both the historical accounts and the photographed records of the surrender talks, and will discuss critical, and heretofore missing, information. His presentation will integrate the updated information to add new depth to the suspenseful days of negotiations. Augmented by information retrieved from both researched eyewitness accounts and consultations with descendants of the photographed Chiricahuas, Van Orden will add new historical perspective to a riveting moment in history. The Fly photographs capture the meetings, military camp scenes, and stunning views of the Chiricahua people.

Jay Van Orden worked for the Arizona Historical Society (AHS) for thirty-two years. As Director of Field Services, he made and maintained connections with most of the state's local history museums. He remains busy in retirement with research and writing related to Geronimo, the Apaches, and the Civil War in Arizona, as well as the restoration of classic automobiles and motor scooters. He represents AHS on the State Historic Sites Review Committee.