2012 Centennial Gala

2023 HISTORYMAKERS TM 

TURQUOISE & TREASURES RECOGNITION EVENING 

The Historical League Requests Your Nominations for the 2023 Arizona Historymakers 

The Historical League will again be honoring men and women who have made significant contributions to the state of Arizona with outstanding achievements in areas such as arts, athletics, communications, community service, education, medicine, and entertainment. 

As a member of the Arizona Historical Society Central Arizona Chapter, the Historical League, or a Historymaker, you are eligible and invited to nominate living men and women who reside in Arizona to be considered an Arizona Historymaker honoree. Past honorees are listed on the left. To learn more about these Historymakers, visit www.HistoricalLeague.org and click on Historymakers. The nominations we receive are used by our selection panel to assist in determining who will become our 2023 Historymakers. Those selected will be presented and honored at a reception at the Arizona Heritage Center Museum at Papago Park on October 14, 2023. The highlights of the evening will be a video program sharing each Historymaker’s unique life accomplishments and an unveiling of an exhibit featuring their achievements. We hope you will join us for this celebration. 

Before the event, each Historymaker participates in giving an oral history, that will be archived at the Heritage Center Library and will also be available on our website: www.historicalleague.org 

The Historical League has been honoring Arizona Historymakers since 1992 for the purpose of:
         •   Recognizing and honoring outstanding living Arizonans

• Raising funds for education, exhibits, and various programs that assist the Arizona Heritage Center Museum at Papago Park
• Increasing public awareness of the 80,000-square-foot Papago Park history museum 
• Supporting our youth through the National History Day Arizona program
  
  The Nominating ballot is at www.HistoricalLeague.org
• Please complete the ballot and return to the museum before September 15, 2022. We thank you for your help and look forward to celebrating our new Historymakers with you in October 2023.
  Sincerely,
  Diana M. Smith
  Historymakers 2023 Recognition Program Chair
• Mail ballot to Diana M. Smith. c/o Arizona Heritage Center.    1300 N. College Avenue.   Tempe, AZ 85288

Historymakers Rose and Harry Papp

With all their philanthropic endeavors, it is nice to see the Papp family acknowledged on the cover of the February issue of Frontdoors.

The Historical League will also honor them at the Historymakers Gala and Recognition Program, March 4, 2017 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort.
Also being honored are Ed Beauvais, Wink Crigler, The Honorable Jon Kyl, Robert Spetzler, M.D., and Dr. Warren Stewart.
Tickets available at www.HistoricalLeague.org

Annual O'Connor Justice Prize awarded to Jimmy Carter

Justice O'Connor was a 1992 Historymaker

2008 Historymaker Barbara Barrett presents
the award to Carter

Former President Jimmy Carter, 92, is this year's recipient of the O'Connor Justice Prize, an annual humanitarian award named after retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Justice O’Connor was named a Historymaker in 1992.

He and his wife, Rosalynn, founded the non-profit Carter Center in 1982.

“I am very grateful and honored to come here,” Carter said to a standing ovation from guests at the black-tie ceremony at the Arizona Biltmore on Friday.
In a clear, powerful voice with distinctive Georgia accent, Carter said he didn’t always agree with Ronald Reagan but that placing O’Connor on the nation's high court “was the best decision he ever made.”
Since leaving office in 1981, Carter has dedicated himself to humanitarian work and has emerged as an elder statesman.
His work at finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts and advancing democracy and human rights earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Notably, the Carter Center has led a campaign to eradicate the Guinea worm, a parasite that grows inside the abdomen and causes painful burning.
Since the non-profit center began working on the disease three decades ago, infections have fallen from 3.5 million a year to 25 cases last year, according to the center.
A cancer survivor, Carter successfully underwent treatment for melanoma that had spread to his brain in 2015.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have been married 70 years. “Seventy-one if I make it to July,” he said to the audience.
Information from AZ Republic.

Dr Stewart tells the story of MLK Day/Civil Rights Day

Slide shows Rosa Parks with Dr. Stewart at First Institutional Baptist Church

 With historic photos and his Eight Lessons, Dr. Warren Stewart presented a fascinating look at the struggle for Martin Luther King Day in Arizona. Followed by audience discussion, the talk at AZ Heritage Center at Papago Park on Thursday, January 19 was most informative and well received.
The Historical League is proud to honor Dr. Stewart as a 2017 Historymaker at the Historymakers Gala, Arizona Biltmore Resort on March 4, 2017.

Museum Director Tawn Downs with Dr. Stewart

2017 Historymaker Gala and Recognition Program

It's exciting to see the 2017 Historymakers Gala and Recognition Program coming together. Invitations were mailed last week. The Historical League is proud to recognize such an outstanding group of honorees for the Historymakers Gala March 4, 2017. Their stories and artifacts will continue to be told at the Historymakers Lobby Exhibit at AZ Heritage Center at Papago Park after the Gala event.