Virtual 2020 Winter History Highlight

OTM will present our 2020 Winter History Highlight online through the Virtual AZ Speaks program from Arizona Humanities. We will host The Ballad of Arizona – a blend of music, video, and lecture similar to A Prairie Home Companion, but with an Arizona twist – online on Saturday, December 5, at 2 pm. To register for the virtual program, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZbSfXiknS9msGYPvINkFnQ.

Arizona Humanities has temporarily transitioned their popular speaker presentations online so that statewide audiences can still enjoy high-quality cultural programming in these challenging times. In The Ballad of Arizona, scholars Jay Craváth and Dan Shilling will present important but often little-known chapters of the state’s unique cultural and natural history, including the Buffalo Soldiers, dude ranches, the Code Talkers, forester Aldo Leopold, Japanese-American Internment, famous cattle drives, and the assassination of reporter Don Bolles.

Dr. Craváth is a composer, writer, and scholar in the field of music and Indigenous studies. He creates programs and interactive discussions that include stories, musical performances, illustrations, and photography. His latest book is Iretaba: Mohave Chief and American Diplomat, and his latest album is Songs for Ancient Days.

Former executive director of Arizona Humanities, Dr. Shilling has since coordinated institutes on environmental ethics, presented extensively on place-based economic development, and authored or edited publications including Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning from Indigenous Methods for Environmental Sustainability. He has served on dozens of boards and commissions and is the recipient of ASU’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.

OTM’s 2020 Fall History Highlight is made possible by Arizona Humanities. Because our in-person programs have been cancelled for the remainder of 2020, OTM is grateful to Arizona Humanities for giving us the opportunity to offer the program — originally scheduled as our Fall History Highlight at the Winslow Arts Trust Museum — in a safe and engaging way.

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OTM Reopens by Reservation

The Old Trails Museum has reopened! We are open by reservation Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 am to 3 pm. We welcome you back with new policies designed to protect your health and safety. We hope that your visit to the museum, and learning about Winslow’s rich history, will outweigh any inconvenience of these policies, which you can review on our “Visit” page.

For Your Visit

Call 928-289-5861 anytime to make a reservation for a 45-minute visit. If your call is not during open hours, leave a message and we’ll call you back soon to schedule. Visitors will be asked to please:

  • Wear a face mask during your visit (provided if needed).
  • Sanitize your hands and allow us to take a touchless temperature.
  • Stay at least six feet apart from other groups of visitors.
  • Visit us another time if you are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19.

For Your Safety

  • Staff will take all the same precautions as our visitors.
  • Staff has installed safety measures inside the museum.
  • Staff will sanitize the museum before each shift.

The Rationale

OTM’s reopening policies were developed based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State of Arizona, as well as on recommendations from the International Council of Museums, the American Alliance of Museums, and reopening plans from other museums. OTM is committed to staying current on the latest information and updating these policies as needed.

These policies are based on current scientific consensus on how the coronavirus is transmitted: It is airborne, and “Infection = Exposure to Virus x Time.” The longer you are with an infected, unmasked person in an enclosed space/room, the higher the risk of getting infected from their sneeze or cough (one incident for viral exposure), talking (5 minutes for viral exposure), or breathing (50 minutes for viral exposure). Further, almost half of all infections have occurred from asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people, and the latter are at their most infectious just prior to showing symptoms.

Since OTM Volunteers fall into the highest-risk category – people 65 or older, many of whom have serious underlying medical conditions – only OTM Staff will host museum visitors and researchers at this time.

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New OTM Online Store

The OTM Online Store is here! You can access the site directly or from several pages here on the OTM Website. Make your secure payments when you purchase or renew your WHS membership; make a one-time donation or special gift; or purchase an OTM historical calendar or publication on a Winslow or northeastern Arizona topic (descriptions of the publications are available on the store website). Your purchases are sales-tax-free and support the museum in accomplishing our mission. Thank you for your support!

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2020 High Desert Fly-In Cancelled

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 High Desert Fly-In will not take place on Saturday, September 19. The HDFI Committee plans to host the Fly-In next year on Saturday, September 18, 2021, when we hope to see you all there again.

The HDFI Committee would like to thank all the organizational partners represented on our committee — the City of Winslow, Wiseman Aviation, the Just Cruis’n Car Club, the Old Trails Museum, the Winslow Airport Commission. the Winslow Chamber of Commerce, the Winslow Historic Preservation Commission, the Winslow Public Library, and the Winslow Rotary Club — for their ongoing commitment to this special annual event.

The HDFI Committee would also like to thank our event collaborators — the Flagstaff EAA Young Eagles, historian Erik Berg, the Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum, the E & O Kitchen, the Winslow Senior Center, and Winslow Animal Control — for their willingness to participate in the 2020 Fly-In, and we hope to work with you all next year.

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2020 Antiques Appraisal Fair Cancelled

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Winslow Antiques Appraisal Fair will not take place on July 11, 2020. OTM plan to host the fair in 2021 on a Saturday in July from 10 am to 4 pm at the Winslow Visitors Center/Hubbell Trading Post, 523 West Second Street. Sean Morton of Morton Appraisals in Scottsdale will bring his expertise back to Winslow so residents can have their historic items identified and appraised. Please contact Morton directly if you need appraisal advice before then.

Once the 2021 Appraisal Fair date is confirmed, participants will schedule their one-on-one appointments with Morton by calling OTM at 928-289-5861 by the Thursday prior to the event. The charge for the first appraised item will be $20 and for the second item will be $5. OTM presents the Winslow Antiques Appraisal Fair as a service to the community; the event is not a fundraiser and the charge is only to cover costs. We hope to see you there in 2021!

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OTM Calendar Highlights

Even though the Old Trails Museum is closed, we want to stay connected with our Facebook friends, so we’ll post an image and caption each Monday from our historical calendar archives. We’ll post them chronologically as a way to preview our 2021 calendar, Winslow Through the Decades, which will feature images that have never been published in an OTM calendar or our Images of America title, Winslow. Check out our Facebook page for these highlights and other news, and stay well: https://www.facebook.com/Old-Trails-Museum-131404730265404/.

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OTM Closed Until Further Notice

Out of concern for the health of our guests and volunteers, the Old Trails Museum will be closed until further notice. In the meantime, we hope that you’ll visit our “Exhibits” page and explore our online exhibits on Winslow’s rich history. We apologize for any inconvenience, and we wish you and yours good health.

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2020 Spring History Highlight: POSTPONED

Given the evolving situation with COVID-19, the Old Trails Museum is postponing the March 28 presentation at the Winslow Visitors Center until further notice. We will let you know as soon as we can schedule a new date, and thank you all for your ongoing support of our programs.

The Old Trails Museum offers its 2020 Spring History Highlight on Saturday, March 28, at 2 pm at the Winslow Visitors Center/Hubbell Trading Post, 523 West Second Street. Sativa Peterson, News Content Program Manager for the State of Arizona Research Library, will lead attendees through a free, interactive presentation of Revealing History – A Look at Community Through Arizona’s Historical Newspapers.

Using headlines, editorials, political cartoons, and photojournalism, Peterson will introduce audiences to Arizona’s historical newspapers; to the publishers, editors, and journalists who helped establish news writing in the early days of Arizona statehood; and to some of the defining moments in state history that they covered. Attendees will hear how they reported on women’s suffrage efforts in Arizona; which newspapers were published along the US/Mexico border during Prohibition; and about early African American community newspapers and the longest-running Spanish-language newspapers in the state.

Peterson will also demonstrate how to do one’s own searching using the Arizona Memory Project and Chronicling America websites, so that attendees can continue to explore historical newspapers on their own. Using journalism as a lens for reflecting on the human experience, these rich and valuable resources can show how we governed ourselves, faced conflict, and celebrated triumphs. They allow us to see how people viewed an event when it happened and to trace changing views over time. In short, historical newspapers capture the everyday life of the people and places of Arizona.

A Winslow native and graduate of Winslow High School, Peterson went on to graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, with a master’s degree in journalism and the Pratt Institute with a master’s in library and information science. She served as Project Director for the National Digital Newspaper Program grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that allowed the Arizona State Library to continue digitizing historical newspaper collections.

The 2020 Spring History Highlight is made possible in part by an Arizona Humanities grant for a statewide tour of Revealing History that begins in Winslow. For the latest updates on all of the Old Trails Museum’s exhibits and programs, go to our website or “like” the museum on Facebook.

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Homolovi Exhibit Opens in Winslow

Homolovi State Park, the Winslow Arts Trust (WAT), and the Old Trails Museum – in cooperation with the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office – have created a unique partnership to host a major exhibition in northeastern Arizona: Life Along the River: Ancestral Hopi at Homol’ovi.

Join us for the exhibition’s Grand Opening on January 18, 2020, at 2 pm at the WAT Museum at La Posada Hotel, 333 East 2nd Street. The event will include the Hopi Polequaptewa Dancers and comments by Dr. E. Charles Adams. Life Along the River: Ancestral Hopi at Homol’ovi will be on display through January 10, 2021.

Created by the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona in Tucson, the exhibition synthesizes more than thirty years of archaeological research by the museum’s Homol’ovi Research Program. Through images, maps, and the voices of present-day Hopi, it tells the story of the people who lived in seven villages along the Little Colorado River – near what is now Winslow – in the 1300s. Present-day Hopi refer to the former settlements nestled among the small, raised buttes as Homol’ovi, “place of little hills.”

Dr. Adams, now retired, directed the Homol’ovi Research Program from 1985 to 2017. “We found the (archaeological) record remarkably intact and fully able to tell the stories of the place,” said Adams, who credits the program’s work with revealing a timeline for life at Homol’ovi, the relationships among the area’s inhabitants, and the importance of the river in their lifeways.

The exhibition also illustrates how collaborative research with descendant communities increases our understanding of the past and enhances the interpretation of archaeological resources. In recognition of its important archaeological resources, the Homol’ovi area became Arizona’s first archaeological state park in 1986 through a wide-ranging partnership between the Hopi people, state agencies, the governor’s office, local civic leaders, and avocational archaeologists.

After viewing Life Along the River: Ancestral Hopi at Homol’ovi, attendees are invited to visit Homolovi State Park and see how the pueblos and artifacts have been protected. Take the short 10-minute drive from the WAT Museum by going east on 2nd Street to 87 North; turn left and take 87 North to Winslow-Polacca Road; and turn left to arrive at the Homolovi State Park Visitors Center (see map below).

Life Along the River: Ancestral Hopi at Homol’ovi is made possible in Winslow by Arizona State Parks & Trails/Homolovi State Park, the Winslow Arts Trust, the Old Trails Museum, the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, and the Arizona State Museum. For the latest updates on related programs throughout 2020, check the OTM Website or go to https://azstateparks.com/homolovi/events.

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