This Day in History

June 27, 1829 : SMITHSON'S CURIOUS BEQUEST. English scientist James Smithson dies after a long illness, leaving behind a will with a peculiar footnote. In the event that his only nephew died without any heirs, Smithson decreed that the whole of his estate would go to "the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Smithson's curious bequest to a country that he had never visited aroused significant attention on both sides of the Atlantic. Smithson had been a fellow of the venerable Royal Society of London from the age of 22, publishing numerous scientific papers on mineral composition, geology, and chemistry. In 1802, he overturned popular scientific opinion by proving that zinc carbonates were true carbonate minerals, and one type of zinc carbonate was later named smithsonite in his honor.

His nephew indeed died without children, and on July 1, 1836, the U.S. Congress authorized acceptance of Smithson's gift. Two years later Diplomat Richard Rush set sail for home with 11 boxes containing a total of 104,960 gold sovereigns, as well as Smithson's mineral collection, library, and scientific notes. After the gold was melted down, it amounted to a fortune worth well over $500,000. After considering a series of recommendations, Congress agreed that the bequest would support the creation of a museum, a library, and a program of research, publication, and collection in the sciences, arts, and history. On August 10, 1846, the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution was signed into law by President James K. Polk. Today, the Smithsonian is composed of 19 museums, nine research centers throughout the United States and the world and the national zoo. John Smithson, the Smithsonian Institution's great benefactor, is interred in a tomb in the Smithsonian Building.

Residents push to expand Phoenix's Coronado Historic District

[Source: Audrie Garrison, Arizona Republic] -- Some residents in and around the historical Coronado district are pushing to expand its boundaries. The city’s Historic Preservation Office will hire an outside consultant next year to determine how much of the proposed area is eligible to be designated as part of the historic district, said Barbara Stocklin, the city’s historic preservation officer. The district could be expanded by 2009. The existing district is approximately the area south of Virginia Avenue, east of Seventh Street, north of McDowell Road and west of 14th Street. Residents have proposed expanding the boundaries to Seventh Street, 16th Street, Thomas Road and Interstate 10. The city will begin the process next June but Stocklin said the entire expansion process would take up to two years. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Iconic 'mushroom' bank focus of Phoenix preservation fight

[Source: Jaimee Rose and Jennifer Price, Arizona Republic] -- Fists are up in a fight to save the Valley's "mushroom" bank, an adored Arcadia architectural icon threatened by modern America: developers with condos and stylish retail in their eyes. The quirky '60s structure reigns supreme over some seriously swanky real estate: the corner of 44th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix. JP Morgan Chase & Co. owns the building and is willing to save the bank and preserve its fungal glory, especially if the neighborhood will play nice and let developers rezone and make over the bank's yard with four-story condos and luxe shopping.

The neighborhood wants nothing of the kind: no more condos, no demolition, and, lest we forget, these are the residents who trumped The Donald and his Camelback tower. No one wants to tear down the bank, but its future is left dangling, pawnlike, in the middle of a zoning fight. Chase is willing to apply for historic designation, a move that would persuade historians and city officials to cooperate with operation condo. But the mushroom structures that give the bank its nickname will, at the least, be transplanted, and some of the shrooms may not survive. On Monday, the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission will meet regarding formal historic status, and on Tuesday, a city planning committee will open discussions to allow the condos. Ultimately, the future of the bank and its backyard is held by the Phoenix City Council. Preservationists lean in favor of giving up the green space in order to save the bank.

"In order to keep this icon," Councilman Tom Simplot said, "they need to develop that green space. They are not going to be able to save the building if they don't give it up." But wedging condos onto the lawn, said Frank Henry, 73, the building's celebrated architect, is "like taking a painting and cutting off a corner of it." And in a valley where everything old is torn down and rebuilt again, then painted beige or turned Tuscan, this is one place that doesn't look like everywhere else, preservationists say. "One way of losing a community is losing the history of the community," said Rusty Foley, chairwoman of the preservation commission. "People don't think of anything out here as old, but we're a community that grew up in the 20th century. . . . If we lost those buildings, maybe you forget where you came from."

[Note: To read the full article, click here. Photo source: Walt Lockley.]

Phoenix's Hanny's Shop gets new look after 20-year vacancy

[Source: Jahna Berry, Arizona Republic] -- For decades, Valley men turned to Hanny's for a polished, new look -- a natty suit or crisp shirt. This year, the shuttered department store's a getting the makeover. It could reopen as a swank restaurant as early as December in downtown Phoenix. Hanny's, at First and Adams streets, has been vacant for 20 years but is in the midst of a $5 million renovation, said Grady Gammage Jr., the owner's attorney. Karl Kopp, the businessman behind Scottsdale hotspot AZ88 as well as restaurants in New York's Soho neighborhood and Milwaukee, plans to channel that buzz into Hanny's. On Wednesday, Scottsdale designer Janis Leonard, eyed the 1947 building's shell as crews poured concrete and rebuilt a wall. "We want everything to slowly reveal itself ... not hit you over the head," said Leonard, who would say little about of the future decor.

Her firm designs AZ88's art installations - which change every month - and won a national award for work on Kopp's Soho project. Hanny's will be a mix of old and new, Leonard said. The first-floor display windows will showcase the dining area and bar. Art could hang in an empty elevator shaft. The kitchen will be tucked in the back of what once was the store's men's department. There will be lots of amber light, an undulating mezzanine level - which is original to the building - and a few spots where she plans to keep the building damage intact. "I like the rough edge," she said. Hanny's will also keep its name and some original department store signs. Hanny's is a survivor, one preservationist says. Hanny's was burned over and over again to train city firefighters, said Debbie Able, a former Phoenix historic preservation officer, who's now a consultant for the project. When Able worked for the city, many officials asked if the city could raze Hanny's.

Since Phoenix bought the building with federal funds, it couldn't be torn down, said Able, who was a preservation officer from 1989 to 1998. Kopp ended up with Hanny's because another downtown building that he planned to use for a restaurant was in the path of Arizona State University's downtown campus. The city gave Kopp the Hanny's building as part of a swap, Able said. Kopp also got nearly $370,000 in preservation funds to repair the roof, said Barbara Stocklin Phoenix's historic preservation officer. The rebirth of Hanny's is another sign of the wave of change downtown is experiencing, said Phoenix Councilman Michael Johnson, whose district includes Copper Square. Phoenix's core needs more destination and trendy eateries, and Kopp can help bring that energy downtown, he said. That energy also will bring life to a once-unwanted department store, Able said. "Nobody understood why it should be saved," Able said. "Now it will be a gem."

Phoenix cemetery goes historic

[Source: Veronica Sanchez, 12 News] -- After a fight to preserve it, and years of neglect, a century old Phoenix cemetery is deemed historic. This week, the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission voted to preserve the cemetery. That means no one can alter or change the Sotelo-Heard Cemetery without expressed permission from the commission itself. It's been a long and sometimes forgotten battle. Hundreds of Mexican laborers and their children were buried near 12th St. and Broadway from the late 1880's to the 1920's.

Throughout the years, grave robbers and kids trampled on the headstones and destroyed them. Some people actually cared, like 76-year-old Emily Lilly. As a young woman she walked the grounds of the cemetery sketching the names of the dead before headstones were destroyed. And then there was Tim Diaz who two years ago became the unofficial caretaker. About that time the owner of the cemetery wanted to develop on the land but was pressured by Hispanic activists not to. Since then a new owner has taken over, the non profit agency Neighborhood Housing Service. Representatives say they fought to preserve the cemetery but also want to build homes near it. Some people who live near the cemetery aren't wild about the idea, but it's better than the old scenario. NHS still has to clear zoning hurdled to build on the lot but reps claim the cemetery will not be disturbed. The dead will be remembered with a dignified memorial.

Couple fall in love with 1898-vintage Tucson home

[Source: Alexis Blue, Daily Star] -- When Jeffrey and Trisha Stanley moved from their modern suburban home on the Northwest Side to a historic home in Downtown's Barrio Histórico, they didn't expect to stay long. Their plan was to "flip" the house — fix it and sell it while the real estate market was hot. The plans changed when the couple fell in love with the 19th-century Queen Anne revival, a home they now hope will stay in their family for years to come. Original mahogany doors with ornate hinges, mahogany moldings, 12-foot-high tongue-and-grove wood ceilings and wavy lead glass windows lend the sturdy home, built in 1898, an undisputable historical feel.

A striking built-in china cabinet in the dining room and a fireplace in the living room are also left over from earlier days. The three-bedroom home came complete with creaky floors, made from red fir believed to have come from Mount Lemmon in the days of its thriving logging industry. Known as the Aurelio Orozco house, the Stanley residence is on city, state and national registries of historic homes. "It's nice because we've met a lot of our neighbors, and a lot of them are business owners that have moved from Oro Valley or the Foothills, and they come here because they believe in preservation," Trisha Stanley, 48, said. "That's what kept us here. We loved it, and we thought it's such a shame that people just raze homes and put up condos."

[Note: To read the full article, click here. Photo source: Jeffry Scott, Daily Star.]

Downtown Tucson makeover starts to bear fruit

[Source: Tom Beal, Daily Star] -- When the first residents of the Mercado District at Menlo Park move in next month, the city can honestly claim that its Rio Nuevo project has added to the population Downtown — or at least quite near Downtown. Justin Dixon and his partner, Dale Thompson, expect to be living in their Sonoran row home in time to celebrate Dixon's 39th birthday July 4 by watching the fireworks on nearby "A" Mountain from their patio. Dixon is managing member of Rio Development, which planned these 100 homes being laid out around seven plazas. He and Thompson will become the first residents lured by city expenditure of state sales tax money set aside for redevelopment in the Rio Nuevo district. Their home, built by Paolo Delorenzo of Innovative Living Design and Development, is sleekly modern inside but part of a zero-setback streetscape that resembles Old Mexico or Downtown Tucson's Barrio Viejo.

Another six homes will be populated by the end of the year at this site, south of West Congress Street and west of the Santa Cruz River and Interstate 10. The Mercado District sits at the western edge of a planned modern streetcar route that will extend through Downtown, up Fourth Avenue and through the University of Arizona to the campus of University Medical Center. Development will occur along that line, says City Manager Mike Hein. "Too many things are converging — the modern streetcar, the cost of gas and strong developer interest in building Downtown — for it not be an inevitable occurrence," Hein said. Hein said he initially underestimated the psychological impact of reaching a million in population but was convinced by the level of interest in building a convention hotel Downtown that the milestone is making outside investors take Tucson more seriously. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Native Americans complain graves dug up for border fence

[Source: Tim Gaynor] -- Members of a traditional Indian nation spanning the Arizona-Mexico border are complaining that work to put up a new barrier to secure the border has desecrated an ancient burial ground. The U.S. Border Patrol is building a 75-mile (120-km) vehicle barrier across the Tohono O'odham nation lands next to Mexico's Sonora state, in a bid to stop drug and human traffickers driving across from Mexico in trucks and cars. The barrier is made of closely set steel posts sunk in concrete, and is being built in close consultation with tribal authorities. It replaces a rusted, barbed wire fence that stretched across the vast, cactus-strewn tract of desert where the tribe has lived for generations. The tribal government said on Friday that "human burials" dating from the 12th century were found at two sites during preparatory work on the footings for the fence, and say the discovery was handled correctly according to protocols developed with the U.S. government.

But members of five traditional families who say they are directly descended from the dead, complained that their removal is a desecration of a site they hold sacred. "It is a place where our ancestors have slept for many, many years, and someone just dug them out of their graves and put them in little bags in storage," said Ofelia Rivas, a traditionalist who lives in the tiny, cactus-ringed village of Ali Jegk, Arizona, just yards (meters) from the Mexican border. The Tohono O'odham nation, whose name means "Desert People," reaches up to Casa Grande in the north, a few miles (kilometers) south of the state capital, Phoenix, and stretches across the international line into Mexico, where some members live in nine scattered communities. The tribal government said in a news release that the areas in which the human remains were found were among 11 archeological sites identified by the tribe that lie in the path of the barrier. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Cuts through South Mountain for freeway called unacceptable

[Source: Kerry Fehr-Snyder, Arizona Republic] -- The head of a prominent environmental group is calling a plan that would blast parts of the South Mountain Park for a proposed freeway "outrageous and irresponsible." Sandy Bahr, conservation outreach director for the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon chapter, said the group is disappointed that the proposed route for the 22-mile South Mountain Freeway would mean cutting a chunk out of three ridge lines in the 16,000-acre park. "From the Sierra Club's perspective, we're opposed to cutting through the preserve," she said Tuesday night at the group's monthly meeting. "It's really outrageous and irresponsible." The park is a wildlife corridor with various desert animals, including bobcats, javelina, tortoises, foxes, reptiles and squirrels. But none is protected under the Endangered Species Act, Bahr said. "There is a habitat for pygmy owls but no pygmy owls anymore," she said.

Doug Nintzel, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Transportation, said the cuts comprise a relatively small proportion - 32 of 16,000 acres - of the park and have long been anticipated in the design for the proposed freeway. "The cuts through the ridges would be designed to minimize the impact, and that's required as part of any project like this," he said. But Michael Goodman, a member of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve Council, said Phoenix should be preserving the park and fighting the state's powers of eminent domain to bulldoze it for the freeway. "It doesn't seem like a lot of land, but it really is," he said. The preserve runs south of Baseline Road starting at about 27th Avenue on the west and swinging eastward to 48th Street. ADOT has said that the most likely design would mean the removal of three ridge lines on the mountain. Construction crews would make cuts up to 20 stories deep and more than two football fields wide to make way for the 10-lane freeway. Goodman, who also serves on the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team, said he is frustrated by the lack of information about freeway noise, the fate of animals, the visual impact and other environmental aspects to cutting through the mountain. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Native American leaders focus on holy sites

[Source: Joanna Dodder, The Bugle] -- American Indian officials spoke at the State Historic Preservation Conference in Prescott Thursday about their efforts to save their holy sites such as the San Francisco Peaks, Fossil Creek and Apache Leap. "We're here to let you know about some of the battles we're going through ... in order to continue to exist," said Vernelda Grant, tribal historic preservation officer and archaeologist for the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Destruction of one holy site impacts them all, added Angela Garcia-Lewis, assistant cultural resource specialist for the Gila River Indian Community. Grant has helped draft a Declaration of Unified Tribal Nations that calls for protection of holy places. "Many of these scenarios are repeating themselves across Arizona and the nation," said session moderator Alida Montiel, a Pascua Yaqui who is the health and cultural project specialist for the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona.

Archaeologists, historians and cultural resource specialists from the Yavapai-Apache, Gila River and San Carlos Apache tribes in Arizona all called for better understanding and communication from government officials. For example, government officials rely heavily on the written word when American Indians might have trouble putting their cultural perspectives into writing, said Barnaby Lewis, cultural resource specialist for the Gila River Indian Community. 'We want to get the message out that (documents) do not define us," Garcia-Lewis said. "A lot of tribes distrust the written word because it's not precise." Federal officials must consult with tribes about how projects on federal lands could impact their cultural resources on their ancestral lands. Private developers must report ancient burial sites. It would be better if they start that consultation in person instead of writing, she said. "We have to fight for our holy places because they're all off the reservation," noted Yavapai-Apache Historian Vincent Randall (pictured). Randall referred to his 2005 testimony in Prescott's federal courthouse against the Snowbowl ski area's plans to use wastewater for snowmaking on the San Francisco Peaks on the Coconino National Forest. Several Indian tribes still are battling the plans in court. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

L. Ron Hubbard House in Phoenix wins Governor's Heritage Preservation Honor Award

[Source: PR-inside] --The Friends of L. Ron Hubbard Foundation and the Church of Scientology International received the Arizona Governor's Heritage Preservation Award this week for the painstaking restoration they did of the house where L. Ron Hubbard lived from 1952 to 1955 in Phoenix, Arizona. Presented by Mr. Vince Murray, President of the Arizona Preservation Foundation, the award recognizes people, organizations, and projects that represent outstanding achievements in preserving Arizona's historic and prehistoric resources.

Two years of intensive research went into the planning of this restoration project to recreate the house and its furnishings exactly as they were at the time Mr. Hubbard lived there, more than 50 years ago. Those carrying out the project found and interviewed Scientologists who had attended the courses and lectures Mr. Hubbard conducted while in Phoenix and who had visited the house. Project personnel studied and used Scientologists' photographs and memorabilia from that period, they pulled documents that were on file with the City of Phoenix planning office, and an historical restorations expert who directed the project conducted a thorough inspection of the building against all the information that was collected, all to create a completely accurate reconstruction of the house. But while the project made sure of the accuracy of every detail, it is half a century since L. Ron Hubbard lived and worked there, and it would not have conveyed the essence of the building and its history if the furnishings and fixtures looked brand new. So care was taken to ensure it looked the way Camelback House would look in the 21st Century had it been kept and maintained by the Church ever since Mr. Hubbard lived there. [Note: To read the full article, click here. To view video footage of the Preservation Award's Grand Prize Winner click here.]

Arizona tribes unite against mine

[Source: J. Craig Anderson, Tribune] -- American Indians from several Arizona tribes set aside centuries-old differences to speak in unison Wednesday against a plan to mine copper underneath land that San Carlos Apache leaders say has been part of their religious and cultural activities since time immemorial. But San Carlos tribal council Chairman Wendsler Nosie isn’t expecting unity among the tribes to keep government and copper mining interests at bay. That’s why the tribe has hired a Scottsdale lawyer and plans to fight for the 3,000 acres of Tonto National Forest (pictured) subject to a proposed federal land exchange with Resolution Copper Mining, the Arizona joint subsidiary of Britain’s Rio Tinto and Australia’s BHP Billiton.

“This has unified the tribes to start defending the land,” Nosie said. “We’re looking forward to the days to come.” A protest and blessing ceremony on Wednesday at Oak Flat campground near Superior drew about 300 American Indians from six tribes and their supporters — an event that tribal leaders say has not happened in Arizona’s modern history. The mining company’s plan for Superior involves opening the most productive copper mine in North America and pumping 1.8 billion gallons of treated wastewater from previous mining operations into an irrigation district between Florence and Queen Creek. Culling pure copper from the new mine’s underground ore deposit would require an additional 6.5 billion gallons of water each year. The proposed mine “is exclusively driven by the need to obtain the greatest profit for its mostly foreign shareholders,” according to a joint resolution addressed to President Bush and signed Wednesday by leaders of the San Carlos Apache, White Mountain Apache, Camp Verde Yavapai Apache, Tonto Apache, Hopi and Hualapai tribes. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Multicultural celebration in Tucson marks official dawning of summer

[Source: Albert Ching, Daily Star] -- There's no hiding from the summer in Southern Arizona, so why not greet its official start the right way with a solstice party? That's the attitude at the Arizona State Museum, where you'll get that chance with "Marking the Summer Solstice" on Saturday. "The event actually started nine years ago," said Lisa Falk, the museum's education director. "It grew out of a summer cultural program we did in collaboration with the public library. It started very small, and we did it for two years." Falk then came on board, and decided to expand the event to celebrate a diverse range of cultures.

"I'm from the East where there are lots of festivals, and here there didn't seem to be much to do to bring families out of their air-conditioned homes," she said. "It grew from about 200 people that they were getting, and now we get about 1,200 people." The event aims to be a veritable smorgasbord of culture presented by local groups, with performances from Ballet Folklorico Tapatio, Irish music from Halfway Round the House, Japanese drumming from the Tucson Taiko Kyokai, Cuban salsa with Cuban Connection, and Apache hoop performance from the Yellow Bird Indian Dancers. Tucson pyrotechnic theater troupe Flam Chen will perform for the event's "grand finale" with the Dambe Drum Ensemble. The event also boasts educational talks from cultural experts, including Navajo physics and astronomy instructor David Begay and Arizona State Museum head of collections Patrick Lyons. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

Yavapai County projects take home good share of state archaeology awards

[Source: Joanna Dodder, The Bugle] -- If awards are a good indication, Yavapai County is making a noticeable contribution to the protection of archaeological resources. People and projects in the Prescott and Verde Valley regions received six awards Thursday at the 2007 Awards in Historic Preservation at the Elks Opera House in Prescott. The Grand Award Winner this year was the rehabilitation of the 1908 Karlson Machine Works Building/Southwest Cotton Company in Phoenix. The awards were part of the fifth annual Arizona Historic Preservation Partnership Conference, which takes place in different cities each year.

The Arizona Preservation Foundation is the main host of the annual conference, which ran Wednesday through Saturday and featured dozens of educational sessions, workshops, tours and speeches. Four of the 10 Governor's Archaeology Advisory Commission Awards in Public Archaeology went to Yavapai County residents and projects.

Verde Valley recipients of the Public Archaeology Awards were:

• Avocational Archaeologist: Jerome Ehrhardt, who as a leader in the Arizona Archaeological Society's Verde Valley Chapter has helped professional archaeologists learn more about prehistoric sites in the Sedona region and Agua Fria National Monument.

• Tribal Program: Chris Coder, the Yavapai-Apache Nation's archaeologist for 11 years who has led work on documenting sites important to the tribe.

Tucson's Downtown Alliance broadens its scope

[Source: Rob O'Dell, Daily Star] -- Over a couple hours Wednesday, with little fanfare, the Tucson Downtown Alliance became the mega public-private partnership intended to prod Tucson to revitalize its Downtown core. The Downtown Alliance's board voted unanimously to reincorporate itself as the Downtown Tucson Partnership — an expanded group that now includes influential developers, investors, politicians and community activists. Their plan is to merge several existing Downtown organizations and efforts to oversee redevelopment there. The proposed private-public group would help raise money and bring together business deals aimed at creating a vibrant Downtown, along with picking up TDA's mission of largely providing an extra level of security and maintenance for Downtown.

It also will continue to get the $800,000 in property taxes and city assistance TDA has received annually. The new organization would be 35 to 40 members strong, with an additional 12 to 15 nonvoting members, including politicians. Larry Hecker, who will be a member of the new board, said it was legally easier for the TDA to transform itself into the new organization than to start over from scratch and file incorporation forms with the state and the Internal Revenue Service. "There's a corporate structure that avoids having to form a new corporation," Hecker said. "Its mission recognizes the overall importance of a vibrant Downtown to the wider community." For the time being, Donovan Durband, TDA's executive director, said the paid staff will remain the same, and "it will be business as usual." [Note: To read the full article, click here.]