Diversity is woven into state’s history
Accounts of Arizona’s history weave a tapestry of races and nationalities that overcame formidable environmental hardships, survived cruel bigotry and finally blended into the fabric of a diverse state in the last half of the 20th century.
The breadth and value of Arizona’s diversity are often overshadowed by misconceptions of a state created exclusively from dusty trails, Wild West gunslingers and cattle stampedes.
“The young territory of Arizona attracted people of many skin colors, heritages, and religions, and that mix didn’t always result in harmony,” historians Abe and Mildred Chanin wrote in their book, “This Land, These Voices.”
The first Black person believed to have journeyed into the frontier that would become Arizona is believed to have been Esteban, a slave and explorer, who escorted Fray Marcos de Niza into the territory in 1539.
The Chanins, former newspaper publishers and University of Arizona faculty members, are among the historians who have written about Esteban.
“When the definitive Black history of Arizona is written, there will be raised eyebrows, and some more stereotypes will be put to rest,” they said in the book, which recounts some unsung episodes of the state’s history through the voices of those who lived it or stories told to them by parents and grandparents.
Marshall Trimble, Arizona’s official state historian, has written numerous books chronicling the rich history and diversity in the state.
“You could come in from somewhere else and rise to the top because everybody else was from somewhere else,” Trimble said. “There was no closed society. It encouraged diversity.”