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Party of the century

Arizona Centennial offers chance for Latinos to break big piñata

The Arizona Centennial will provide opportunities for Latinos to express their pride in the state’s Hispanic heritage and history, planners say.

Hispanic roots go deep in Arizona’s history, acknowledges the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission.

In 2004, the Arizona Legislature empowered the AHAC to plan and oversee the process leading to Arizona’s yearlong 100th birthday celebration in 2012.

Arizona’s path to statehood was seeded in 1528 under Spanish rule, when the eight-year exploration of Alvar Cabeza de Vaca brought European attention to the Southwest. Spanish explorers and Franciscan missionaries settled what is now Arizona from 1687 to 1711. Father Eubusio Keno established the missions of San Xavier, San Miguel and Guevavi in Pimeria Alta along the Rio Santa Cruz and Rio San Pedro. Silver was discovered in 1736. In 1752, the Tubac Presidio became the first Spanish community in Arizona; Tucson followed in 1776.

Following the Mexican Independence Movement of 1810 – 1821, Arizona’s lands were under Mexican rule. Following the Mexican War, which ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, those lands became part of the New Mexico Territory in the United States. Additional lands were added to Arizona in 1853 as part of the Gadsden Purchase.

Today 28.6 percent Arizona’s population is of Spanish or Mexican decent.

“Those cultures give Arizona much of its color, music, art and culinary excellence,” notes the Centennial Web site at www.azcentennial.gov.

Julie Alvarado, director of Education Partnerships at Arizona State University, urges Latino residents to learn about the Centennial and how to participate in its events and activities.

“The idea is to get everybody involved,” Alvarado says. She sees the Centennial as chance for Hispanics to help other Arizonans discover the state’s Latino roots, as well as show off Latino pride to tourists.

Alvarado was a panelist at the Centennial’s planning workshop in May. Other workshops are planned. The session brought together attendees from the Legislature, government, historical institutions and museums, schools and universities, cities, arts and culture groups, corporations, and media. They learned how they could collaborate on Centennial Legacy projects to highlight Arizona’s past and inspire its future.

Centennial planners hope that hundreds of events through urban and rural Arizona will showcase the state’s uniqueness, beauty, and special qualities, says Juliana Yoder, director of the Arizona Humanities Council. Yoder is a member of the Centennial Commission’s Programs, Projects and Events Committee.

Organizers of events must apply to the Commission at the Centennial Web site to be certified as a Legacy Project. Most funding will come from partnerships between the commission, business sponsorships, city budgets and federal grants.

Marketing and publicity for the projects will include official logos, and may include official Centennial endorsements of products and clothing.

Centennial projects may include restoring historical properties, creating public art and exhibits, new books and articles with original research about Arizona history, and seminars and discussions at schools and in the media.

Marco Albarrán, director of the Calaca Cultural Center, says the historic Elias Rodriguez House – home to a pioneer Hispanic family in Tempe – could be renovated and a Centennial festival held on its grounds.

“I also hope that by 2012 we will have our own Latino cultural center facility to show Latino art, history and culture,” says Albarrán, who is working to create such a center.

In other states’ centennial celebrations, annual events such as state fairs adopted the 100th birthday theme to commemorate the anniversary.

Javier Correa, a resident of St. Johns in northern Arizona, says the Hispanic community is talking about ramping up its annual San Juan Fiesta to commemorate the town’s Latino history.

“We can work with the Apache County Historical Society Museum to show how both cultures founded and grew the St. Johns community.”

Arizona’s first 100 years as a state have evolved a people and a lifestyle that mirror the diversity of its landscape. For Latinos, the Centennial is a tie to celebrate a rich past, and look ahead to a vital future they will help create.