Through the Arizona Historical Society’s partnership with ASU Libraries, Black Collections, and Black Family Genealogy and History Society, we were able to host our annual celebration of Juneteenth on Sunday, June 18th, 2023. Juneteenth has gained recognition as a federal holiday, but it has been historically celebrated by African American communities all over the country. On June 19th, 1865 in Galveston Bay, Texas, enslaved individuals were finally informed of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation declaring their freedom. Juneteenth, as it became known, was a day to celebrate this freedom in Texas and across the U.S. 

Please join us to recognize the impact of Black communities in Arizona with a Juneteenth Celebration. Community members will connect with each other and a variety of organizations representing historical societies, action groups, state resources, and the community at large. Guests are welcome to wander, discuss, and enjoy performances, activities, and food! Festivities will take place on Sunday, June 18, 2023 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Registration is FREE!

Join us virtually on June 22 at 12:00 p.m. with Journalist Melissa Sevigny as we brave the wild river to uncover the lives of two women who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon!

In Brave the Wild River (W.W. Norton, 2023), science journalist Melissa L. Sevigny tells the story of two pioneering botanists, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, and their historic boat trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in the summer of 1938. At the time, the Colorado was famed as the most dangerous river in the world. But for Clover and Jotter, it held a tantalizing appeal: no one had surveyed the Grand Canyon’s plants, and they were determined to be the first. Through the vibrant letters and diaries of the two women, Sevigny traces their forty-three-day journey and explores how their botanical research remains vital to this day.

Join us on  Saturday, June 24 at 10 a.m. virtually for a Publishing Arizona: Academic Article and Book Publishing Workshop. This exciting workshop will focus on “how to” research, write, and publish on Arizona history. The program is open to anyone interested in publishing Arizona history with the University of Arizona Press and the Journal of Arizona History.