Did air conditioning start as early as 1902? Leave it to 6th grader Matthew Davies-Venn to research and create a documentary about A/C for his National History Day project.
Title: The Cool Revolution: How Air Conditioning Reformed the Valley of the Sun into a Habitable Metropolis
Topic: The 1902 invention of air conditioning by Willis Carrier fundamentally
revolutionized life in Arizona, reforming the Valley of the Sun into a thriving hub for urban development and economic growth. Its introduction not only made year-round living conditions feasible but also enabled the expansion of suburban residential communities, attracted business and tourism, transforming Phoenix from a small desert outpost into one of the largest metropolitan cities in the U.S.
Why he chose the topic: I always wondered how we were able to stay cool using
technology. I was looking to do my project on Germ Theory when I stumbled upon
information that Germ Theory relates to air conditioning because AC can trap airborne pathogens by shifting the focus from simply cooling air to filtering indoor air to remove microbes, which helps patients overcome some diseases. This led me to think about how air conditioning was invented because without it, it would be extremely hard to live in my home state of Arizona. It led me to research how humans cooled themselves before air conditioning and how they were able to survive the deadly heat of the Valley of the Sun.
Seeing how creative Matthew can be with "The Cool Revolution" makes the Historical League very proud to be a sponsor of NHDAZ, a program of Arizona Historical Society.
