Tubac event celebrates print journalism
From Arizona State Parks: For more information, contact Ellen Bilbrey at (602) 542-1996 or (602) 228-8518, or Monica Enriquez at (602) 542-6997 or e-mail at azstateparks.gov.Tubac Presidio State Historic Park presents "Print Journalism Celebrated Since 1859" on Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Historic Schoolhouse.
The event honors Arizona's 150-year-old newspaper, The Arizonian, which is still being printed on the original hand press at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park. There will also be speakers from the State Library and Archives and Hollis Cook, former manager of Tubac Presidio State Historic Park.
An Arizona Newspaper Project representative will be there to show how they are digitizing all of Arizona's historic newspapers from 1880-1922. Although Library and Archives has just begun this project, they hope to have the papers digitized by 2012. Reporters will be able to search historic stories and compare what happened in years past to 100 years later. This is a national program and other states are doing the same digitizing. Readers will see why Arizona's inclusion in the Union took so long, the voices on either side of the debate and the complex process by which Statehood eventually occurred. Other significant moments in Arizona's history will also be brought out for the public to see such as the Indian Wars, the development of education and social institutions, border issues with Mexico, mining and other related labor, ethnic, economic and land-use issues, early years of the State's tourism industry, reclamation money for dams, irrigation and agricultural subsidies, etc.
Hollis Cook will speak on the seven-year process it took to bring the historic Washington Hand Press back to its original glory. The press had been in Tombstone and was found in a garage in the back of a house in the late 1970s. It took State Parks staff and a very dedicated volunteer, many years to prepare an engineering plan and find all the parts to put it back together. They traveled to the Smithsonian to enlist the help of other experts to learn how to repair the press. This was the hand press that actually printed Arizona's first newspaper, The Arizonian, and today volunteers operate the press on weekends for visitors. They print the first copy of the paper for the public.
For more information contact Tubac Presidio State Historic Park at (520) 398-2252. Park Entrance Fee is $3 per person for children and adults aged 14 & up. Youths aged 13 to 17 years of age will be charged $1 per person. There is no charge for children 12 years of age or younger. Tubac Presidio State Historic Park is located at One Burruel Street in Tubac, Arizona. The park is located 45 miles south of Tucson on Interstate 19.
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