Juneteenth at new location

 

Julia, Maxwell and Todd attend Career Day at Sunnyslope School

 Kids get inspired by AHS staff Maxwell Edwards-Abbot and Todd Bailey, with Historical League/Sunnyslope Historical Society volunteer Julia Taggart.

Sunnyslope School is a Kids at Hope School. May 12 was their final destination day – Education and Career Day. Special guests representing all different types of careers – firefighters, librarians, healthcare professionals, judges, municipal employees, teachers and more, were on campus inspiring students to set goals and dream big!

Thanks to Julie, Maxwell and Todd for talking to them about Arizona history!

Juneteenth Celebration June 21, 2025

 Juneteenth Spirit Endures in the Valley.

Front page article July 19 in The Arizona Republic interviews our own Todd Bailey about the Saturday, July 21 celebration at AZHC.

Juneteenth marks the Union forces’ June 19, 1865, announcement in Galveston, Texas, of the emancipation of more than 250,000 slaves in the former Confederate state.

Come celebrate with us!

Joyce Bailey and Dr. Josephine Pete featured at February meeting

 February Historical League meeting was well attended, featuring this wonderful program. 

Joyce "the Voice" Bailey was guest speaker at the February Historical League meeting. Members were enthusiastic about her presentation.

Katie Tovar comments, "She told us the story of her family’s migration from Mississippi to Mesa after WWII. She told us about the dual role faith and music played in her life. She sang two original songs and the spiritual "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize".

Joyce is a singer who has given concerts and led choirs in the Phoenix area for many years. She is also an educator. She taught music in grades K-8 in the Roosevelt school district for 30 years and then at a charter school in North Phoenix for another 16. She is an aficionado of gospel, blues, and jazz to name a few genres. She is also a song writer and in her spare time, she enjoys karaoke nights that begin and end early. We know her not only as a Historical League member, but also as the mother of our very own Todd Bailey who welcomes people to the Arizona Heritage Center every day.

Thanks to Jolynn Clarke for organizing, Mary Perona and Katie Tovar for the pictures.

AHS Todd Bailey writes: Two Arizona/ASU/Education/Faith Led Ladies of local Black History. Living Legends. Joyce “The Voice” Bailey, and Dr Josephine Pete. Black women have been highly educated for decades.

Todd Bailey Special Projects Co-ordinator at AZHC

 So grateful to have Todd Bailey at AZHC. He is indeed a treasure! Check out this excerpt from AZ Republic 9/27/2024.

From the glamour of Monte Carlo to the deserts of Arizona, dance has taken Todd Bailey across the world. The professional dancer and educator has now returned to Arizona and works at the AZ Historical Society as a special projects coordinator, but his journey has taken twists and turns like a winding canyon road in his home state.

Bailey was born in Mesa in 1967 and raised in the Valley.

“I’m a Gen X kid from the ’70s, running around these desert streets trying not to burn my feet and all that,” Bailey said. His grandparents moved from Mississippi in the 1940s and raised his mom and her three sisters in the Washington- Escobedo neighborhood.

Bailey attended school in south Mesa, where he was homecoming king in 1985. Although he grew up in a segregated area of the Valley, he looks back at his childhood fondly.

“Education was really, really, really a big deal in the family and also the arts. My mother is a gospel singer, they call her ‘Joyce the Voice’ Bailey,” he said.

This exposure and love for the arts from a young age set him on the path he is still on today. For Bailey, it’s the reason why he became involved in dancing at all.

“Her musical and arts interests kind of filtered to me and I became a professional dancer, I grew up dancing at Tempe Dance Academy,” Bailey said.

After beginning his career in the Valley, he started his journey across the world; first to San Francisco, then New York City and Atlantic City. He worked in Monte Carlo as well.

After 25 years of dancing and being on the road, Bailey retired from professional dancing and came back to the Valley.

He has worked for the Arizona Historical Society for about 6 years, where he is the special projects coordinator.

In this role, he has organized many events and worn many hats. One such program is the society’s annual Juneteenth Celebration.

The event is hosted at the Arizona Historical Society and is organized in conjunction with the Black Family Genealogy and History Society, and the Arizona State University Library.

Jessica Salow, assistant archivist of Black Collections at ASU has known Bailey for the last five years and has worked side by side with him on the Juneteenth Celebration for the last three.

For her, Bailey has been a source of inspiration and a connection to the community around her.

“Working with Todd is an absolute delight, it’s a pleasure. Every time I am in conversation with him, every time I collaborate with him on a project I learn so much from him and I am very inspired and in awe of who he is,” she said.

Juneteenth Celebration at Arizona Heritage Center

Many facebook posts about AZHC Juneteenth Celebration: 

Bradley D Blalock is with Todd Bailey at Arizona Historical Society Museum.

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Did you know Arizona held its first Juneteeth Celebration in 1911 organized by Fuller T Washington? They called it ‘Emancipation Day’ back then.

Wonderful Juneteenth panel with Lee Henry Jordan (State Director for the National Juneteeth Observance Day), Honorable Judge Lauren Guyton, Quentin Jenkins, and Joy Johnson. Wonderful to hear about the meaning of Juneteeth, freedom for all along with so many African Americans that have contributed so much to the world and Arizona history like Jesse Owens, Jackson 5, Mohammed Ali, Fuller T Washington, Reggie Jackson, the Jackson 5 (whose grandparents had homes in Phx & Northern Az). You too Todd Baily, thank you for invite!

photo credits: Redline Designs

Todd Bailey describes the entertainment at Juneteenth, "Thank you so much Ms Liona Edwards and Ms Aubrey Scott for bringing to life an idea I had in my head and heart centered around the beautiful resilient hearts of the black children of the 20th century and those born in enslavement. The beautiful song “Angelitos Negros” arranged, in Spanish by Roberta Flack spoke to me for this piece. We have such a specific history in the Sonoran Desert. I wanted it to resonate with the audience and you two nailed it. Congratulations. I know you both have amazing futures." 

Thank you Kathy Blaze Jefferson, for your comedic acting talents. And for your friendship. You made “The Cookout” a scream and the audience loved you. Here’s to your certain future as a thespian! 

Nele B Wright You took us back in time on this one! Many people don’t even know that the song “Funky Broadway” is not about NYC… but it’s about a black club in the 1960’s on Broadway Road in Phoenix Arizona. Working with you is always a joy and I know Ms Charlene was there next to your Mother in the audience. I can hear her saying “Toddddd, that was so good, how you captured the feeling of those times!” And I know she is proud of you. Thank you so much babygirl. 

Thank you, Thank you, Thank You Khaila L. Shelbe for what was a very very special moment for me and Mother. “Black Leaves” was dedicated to the migration of our family from Money/Greenwood Mississippi to Mesa, Arizona. What would prove to be a very important move for the next generations to come. Khaila I saw you grab up the movement I gave you and come back with more and more “seasonings” on them. I felt the power of black matriarchy as you delivered this piece and I just love working with you. Thank you for making the time to sink your teeth into the moment. 

It’s hard to find the words to explain how much I adore and respect this Lady’s talent, and hard work ethic. Sandra Bassett, thank you for being open and eager to join forces for the last two Juneteenth Celebrations. I love that I gave you some seedling ideas…and you brought Broadway worthy characters to the stage and so specific to the stories of migrating and settling in Arizona as a black woman. I had to contain my emotions for the second year in a row to keep stage managing. And thank you for singing one of our favorite songs ….These Three Words…. because it’s a timely message. All that matters is love right now. Keep on climbing my Sister. So proud of you.

Todd Bailey:  My babies!!!! Michael Miles and Micah Brown, you have been my secret weapon for three years and I love the creative process with you all as much as the actual event. Thank you for sharing your talent with me and the community. I know you are both busy and you make time to be fabulous and learn my choreography and besides that, your presence keeps me confident and moving forward when I get a little unsure about my vision. You guys made “Funky Broadway” so much fun. I miss you already!!!

Still Marching” Michael Miles Khaila L. Shelbe Kathy Blaze Jefferson El Zander

was a performance art piece about a few of the ways we have marched together as people here in Arizonas Black History. We marched to the cotton fields in the blazing sun to make Goodyear Tire Company a Fortune 500 company, we marched to baptize in the desert canals among the beautiful desert landscape, and we marched and still march to fight the ongoing fight for human dignity and our rights and against police brutality. The white fabric represented cotton, the blue was water, the red….. was the blood spilled in American streets that have pooled under innocent young men and women. Being black is not synonymous with crime. Black Lives Matter.

Juneteeth at AZHC described by AHS Todd Bailey

Todd Bailey, Special Projects Co-ordinator at AZHC, describes Juneteeth on his facebook page,  

"I was in the presence of amazing people today. Artists, Educators, colleagues, friends, and members of the greater Phoenix area, and even several Tucsonians. Putting together AHC’S Juneteenth Celebration was a GIFT to me. To work with so many amazing people and have so many noble and fine black folks in the room… was exactly what my diabolical little brain was constructing. I hope you didn’t miss it! 604 people came to enjoy the day with us and celebrated freedom and the discussion of freedom going forward. Thank you for all you Dr Josephine Pete, a member of the ASU Class of 1960. Dr Pete and her classmates went to the legislature that year and demanded that they make the “Tempe Normal School” into a full fledged UNIVERSITY! #therestishistory also, the incredibly talented, charming and handsome @bruce_the_violinist aka Bruce Kirkwood….. soother all our souls with violin like you have never heard before. I am still amazed that I actually booked him. What an incredible day!"

And the Historical league is so happy to have Dr. Josephine Pete as a member!!

Todd Bailey, Historical League member Dr. Josephine Pete, Bruce Kirkwood

AHS Staff helps at 2023 Arizona Historymakers Announcement Event

AHS Staff worked closely with Historical League members to make the 2023 Arizona Historymakers Announcement a successful event. Looks like they enjoyed the event and we are grateful for their support.

Congratulations to 2023 Arizona Historymakers:

Frank Barrios

ASU President Michael Crow

Angel Delgadillo

Dolan Ellis

Ira Fulton & The Fulton Family

Terry Goddard

Denise Resnik

Dr. Jeffrey M. Trent

Dr. Daniel D. Von Hoff

Mrs. Elizabeth White