History
Established by an Act of the First Territorial Legislature on November 7, 1864, the Arizona Historical Society (AHS) is Arizona's oldest historical agency. Today, AHS serves as the steward of state and regional history, fulfilling its mission to collect, preserve, interpret, and disseminate the history of Arizona, the West, and northern Mexico as it pertains to Arizona. Collections, housed in AHS museum facilities throughout the state, number in excess of three million objects. The Society's artifact and manuscript holdings offer unrivaled opportunities for public programming, educational outreach, and exhibitions, as well as academic and community-based research.
Specialties
The Arizona Historical Society's Arizona History Museum is focused on southern Arizona history from Spanish colonial through territorial eras. Exhibit topics include mining, transportation, medicine, and early Tucson settlements. The Arizona's Treasures exhibit features priceless artifacts from the AHS collection including Geronimo's rifle and 18th-century Spanish silver objects.