Welcome to Speakers Bureau

Arizona History Museum

“Territorial Kids:
“Spanish Settlement”
“Mountain Men”
“Nde: Apaches in Arizona History”
 “Cowboys & Vaqueros”
As an adjunct to our History-To-Go program for the schools, Mr. Klein will bring these replica artifact kits to adult groups.

“A Conversation with Petra Santa Cruz-Stevens”
Meet a remarkable Tucson woman, born in the Old Pueblo when it still belonged to Mexico, who married a prominent American Pioneer and Politician.  Presented in English or Spanish.

“Life and War on the Edge: An Introduction to Life on the Spanish Colonial Frontier”
The lecture discusses the Presidio that began Tucson and the men and women  that occupied the frontier. Mr. Collins illustrates these tough pioneers that created a successful community which we call home today.

 “ Blood on the Mountain: A History of Violence Around the Rincon Mountains.”

 “Tucson Barrios”   This program tells about growing up in the barrios of Tucson.  Mr. Alvarez, a Tucson native, tells of his childhood in these historic neighborhoods.

“A Tucsonan in Korea” This program is a first person account of Mr. Alvarez’s tour of duty in Korea during the Korean War.

“Sister Monica Corrigan – 1843-1929”
One of the founders of Mary’s Hospital and the first girl’s school in Tucson, Sr. Monica and 6 fellow sisters of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet  journeyed 36 days by train, boat and stagecoach from St. Louis to Tucson in 1870.

“Anna Charleau” – Dona Anna Charleau was born in Tucson of  parents from France in 1883 and died also in Tucson in 1873 at the age of 90. She was the first madam of Number 12 House in Gay Alley, The first red light district was in Maiden Lane in the Wedge before moving to Gay Alley. Her father Pierre Charleau and her aunt also named Anna Charleau left her a great deal of downtown property. Her "house" was considered an elite establishment. She died a philanthropist and well respected in Tucson, her early past seemingly forgotten.  She lived to see Gay Alley torn down  during Urban Renewal. Was she ever a prostitute? What do you think?

Native American Folklore.
Storytelling is used to entertain and to teach. Stories are meant to be told aloud and become alive when spoken. Share in the unique heritage of storytelling. Gil Payette retells tales based on the traditional stories of the Native Americans, as he understands their relationship to events, experiences and perceptions with the people, animals and plants of their world.

Traditional Stories – myths and legends from the heart and soul.

Mythical Stories – mysteries and magic of medicine men and spirit beings.

Animal Stories – lore of when the animal people could speak.

History of Western Music. 
Western music can be traced back to the 1830s as people started to migrate from the East into the Texas area.  Follow the music’s development from its beginnings through the era of the “Singing Cowboy” in the movies.  Mr. Easterbrook plays samples of Western Music go along with a romantic, yet sometimes dangerous, musical trip.

Arizona Cowboy.  Easterbrook captivates his audiences with a unique flair of Entertainment.   With a combination of history, humor, ballads, poetry, and Folklore of the American West, he creates excitement for all ages.

Geronimo’s Surrender: the 1886 C.S. Photographs.
This slide- lecture combines  both rare photographic images and researched eyewitness accounts to add new historical depth to accounts of the surrender negotiations between Geronimo and General Crook in 1886.

 Warriors and Beyond: A Closer Look at the Clothing, Equipment, and Lifestyle of the Chiricahua Apache.  Using slides and photographs, Mr. Van Orden will present information and create discussion around selected aspects (clothing, equipment, and lifestyle) of the Chiricahua Apache people.

Pearl Hart, the Lady Bandit.
Arizona’s first stage coach robber.  After her arrest she was held at the Florence jail – only men- she stirred up a ruckus, and the reporters started coming, creating a real circus.  It annoyed the sheriff so much, they took Pearl to Tucson under guard. In 1899 she was sentenced to 5 years in Yuma Prison for the theft of a 45 pistol, Pearl claimed “the prison was two steps lower than hell.” Pearl was released 3 years later, in Dec. 1902.  Her sister in St. Louis had written a play about Pearl’s life and rumor has it that she played herself in the play.

Larcena Scott, 1837 to 1913, an early Arizona frontierswoman. Larcena and her siblings were left alone for months at a time on small homesteads near the Mexican border at the height of the Apache uprisings while her father and older brothers ran a freighting business, supplying the army posts of southern Arizona.  She survived a brutal Indian kidnapping after which her first husband was killed by Apaches.  In the next few years her father and 2 older brothers were also killed by Apaches.  She eventually remarried and was the first president of the Society of Arizona Pioneers Ladies Auxiliary.

Presenter fee is $75.00 per presentation. 

For questions, or to schedule a presentation, please contact our Education Staff or at 520-617-1153.

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