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Featured Discoveries
Prescott’s World’s Oldest Rodeo: How a Frontier Contest Became a Civic Tradition
For more than a century, Prescott’s annual rodeo has brought competition, horsemanship and public celebration together in one of Arizona’s most enduring places-based traditions.
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The Green Book: How Black Travelers Built a Safer Road Across America
For three decades, Victor Hugo Green’s guide connected Black travelers with welcoming businesses, turning local knowledge into a nationwide network of confidence and possibility.
Read more →Prescott Is More Than a Pin on the Map: Four Stories Reveal Its Overlapping Landscapes
Recent reports about fire management, flooding, the Upper Verde River and a new exhibit show how many different meanings of place converge around Prescott.
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Bessie Coleman: How a Texas Dreamer Opened the Sky to Black Women
In 1921, Bessie Coleman became the first Black woman—and the first woman of Native American descent—to earn an international pilot’s license. Her…
Read more →The Arizona State Capitol Museum: How a Territorial Building Kept Phoenix’s First Government in View
Before Arizona had a state government, its public life gathered under the copper dome of a modest Phoenix landmark. Today, the Arizona…
Read more →Petrified Forest: The Arizona Place Where Deep Time Meets an Open Road
In eastern Arizona, mineral-filled trees, ancient villages, painted hills, and the trace of Route 66 form one extraordinary public landscape.
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The Humpback Whale’s Return Shows What Protection Can Make Possible
Once hunted to the edge of disappearance, humpback whales are returning to many oceans—offering a powerful example of how patience, international cooperation,…
Read more →The CAPTCHA: How a Tiny Test Became a Battleground Between Humans and Bots
From distorted letters to invisible risk scores, the CAPTCHA has spent more than two decades asking one deceptively difficult question: are you…
Read more →The Bermuda Triangle: How a Sea Mystery Became a Map Without Borders
The Bermuda Triangle has inspired generations of stories about vanished ships and aircraft. But the real explanation is less supernatural—and more revealing…
Read more →The Compost Pile: How American Homes Are Turning Scraps Into Soil
A backyard bin, a balcony tumbler, or a small countertop system can give food scraps a useful second life—and make everyday home life feel more connected to the ground beneath it.
