Arcadia Publishing Arizona State Museum History Book

In 1893, nineteen years before statehood, the first anthropology museum in the Arizona Territory was created on the campus of the fledgling University of Arizona. Located in the small desert city of Tucson and originally occupying a single room, what was first called the Arizona Territorial Museum had one part-time curator and has steadily grown over the last 120 years. Dedicated to the archaeology, history, culture and arts of the peoples of Arizona and the Southwest, the Arizona State Museum is the oldest andlargest anthropology museum in the region. It cares for the world's largest collections of Southwestern Native American pottery, basketry, textiles and fiber arts, all of which have been designated American Treasures. Its exceptional artifactual, biological and documentary collections, maintained by an accomplished staff and faculty, keep its programs at the forefront of scholarly investigations while providing public outreach to Arizona's multicultural communities and visitors from around the world.