BALLAD OF ARIZONA
Many of Arizona’s stories are wellknown, from the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in 1881 to Clyde Tombaugh’s discovery of Pluto in 1930 to the Phoenix Lights UFO sightings in 1997.
But you may not have heard of a high-school basketball team in Miami, composed mostly of poor immigrants, that has been compared to the championship team immortalized in the movie “Hoosiers.” Or that some of the African-American settlers in Tucson and Nogales were Buffalo Soldiers, members of the all-Black Army regiments that fought in the Civil War and Indian wars.
Those are just some of the stories audiences will hear at Ballad of Arizona, a multimedia program that brings together historians, musicians and storytellers to share the state’s rich
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, June 27. Where: Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park, 1300 N. College Ave., Tempe. Admission: Free. Details: 480-929-0292, arizonahistoricalsociety.org. history. The show was created for the Arizona Centennial in 2012 by composer and scholar Jay Cravath and Arizona State University professor of English Dan Shilling, both members of the Arizona Humanities Council.
“I’ve always been a big fan of ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ and other radio shows like that, and I thought it would be a nice way to approach our show,” Cravath said. “Ours is more of a scholarly variety show, with vignettes about various events in history, which are presented as co-anchored news reports.”
The show was supposed to
run in conjunction with the Arizona Centennial, but health problems forced the creators to postpone the performance. Now the show will appear in Tempe, Tucson and Yuma, funded through grants, and will feature live and taped performances from scholars.
Cravath and Shilling will be part of all three events. Cravath will perform a number of ballads throughout the evening, including his original songs “Life’s Suite” and “Sun Is Goin’ Down.” Shilling plans to discuss the lore behind forester Aldo Leopold, who came to Arizona in 1909 and wrote many influential essays that have helped shape modern environmental- ism.
Cravath made it a point to find a diverse set of scholars who focused on various aspects of Arizona’s history. He chose Christine Marin, ASU professor emeritus of Mexican-American studies, to represent the Latino community. She will be presenting live at the Tempe event.
“I thought this would be a new and exciting way to teach about important cultural events in Arizona history, events that are unknown or that must be shared,” she said.
Marin will share the story of a little-known Miami High School basketball team, composed mostly of working-class Mexican-American youth and led by coach Ernest Kivisto, which won the state championship in 1951. Marin was raised in Globe, just 6 miles from Miami, and she published many articles on the team. Marin will present the story in a lively manner with photographs and music, to keep the audience engaged.
“Arizona is a melting pot of cultures, races, and full of stories and events relating to the theme of Mexican immigration, women’s history, racial segregation and the formation of labor unions, to name a few,” she said.
In prerecorded segments, historian and ASU professor Peter Iverson explains why rodeo is so significant to the Native American community, and Navajo poet Laura Tohe shares stories of her grandfather and other Code Talkers during World War II.
The program is free and suitable for children.
“We hope they will be more curious about Arizona’s history, which is remarkably diverse and colorful,” Cravath said. “We also hope they will continue to study all things histori- cal and become more interested in our state’s history in general and what the humanities are all about.”