Theses and Dissertations

The history of Arizona is filled with ambitious pioneers, courageous Natives, and loyal soldiers, but there is a seeming disconnect between those who came before us and many of those who currently inhabit this space. Many historic locations that are vital to discovering the past in Arizona are both hard to find and lacking in information pertaining to what happened there. However, despite the apparent lack of history and knowledge pertaining to these locations, they are vitally present in the public memory of the region, and we wish to shed some much-needed light on a few of these locations and the historical takeaways that can be gleaned from their study. This thesis argues the significance of three concepts: place-making, public memory, and stories. Place-making is the reinvention of history in the theater of mind which creates a plausible reality of the past through what is known in the present. Public memory is a way to explain how events in a location affect the public consciousness regarding that site and further events that stem from it. Lastly, stories about a place and event help to explain its overall impact and what can be learned from the occurrences there. Throughout this thesis we will be discussing seven sites across Arizona, the events that occurred there, and how these three aspects of study can be used to experience history in a personal way that gives us a special perspective on the land around us. The importance of personalizing history lies in finding our own identity as inhabitants of this land we call home and knowing the stories gives us greater attachment to the larger narrative of humanity as it has existed in this space.

Public Art bears an important role in the perpetuation of public narratives in a community. In the wake of the recent anti-racist, decolonization movements, public memorials and monuments are rightly being reconsidered. Historians, artists, politicians, and activists alike are now bringing to light the social and cultural issues that come with commemorating colonizers and white supremacists in controversial public artworks. In my thesis, I will investigate and analyze three different monuments that have been, or currently, are controversial in the eyes of the community. The three monuments that I have chosen to research and analyze are the Captain Cook “Discovery” Statue in Hyde Park in Sydney, Australia, the Cecil Rhodes statue that was central to the Rhodes Must Fall movement in South Africa, and the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Park, which was vandalized last year in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. Each of these monuments plays an impactful role in the communities they inhabit but has or currently is facing a wave of controversy. I will analyze the varying reactions by the public and the controversies surrounding these three individual monuments. My aim is to find that there is a common theme between reactions to colonizer monuments across the world. If there is a common thread between how people everywhere think colonizer monuments should be dealt with, this may lead to more being taken down.