The University of Arizona Press
Date: Thursday, October 10, 2024
Time: 12 p.m., MST
Where: The University of Arizona Herbarium, 1130 South Campus Drive, Tucson, AZ
William L. Bird, Jr. will discuss the history of saguaro cactus imagery drawn from his recent book, In the Arms of the Saguaros. His talk is titled “In the Arms of Saguaros: The Hunt for Iconic Collections and Pictures, 1880-1960.” The illustrated talk will picture the dramatic uptick in saguaro cactus imagery that followed the railroad’s penetration of the Sonoran Desert in the early 1880s—resulting in transplanted displays from Southern Pacific depots to world’s fairs that acquainted Americans with the plants firsthand. Not until the years bracketing the Second World War did the Southwest’s travel and tourism industry elevate the saguaro to the status of a regional icon. For many unfamiliar with the actual plant, the saguaro became an icon of the American West that by the early 1960s resided in a new and highly imaginative range. Bring your own lunch to this Herbarium seminar.
William L. Bird Jr. is a curator emeritus of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. His interests lie at the intersection of politics, popular culture, and the history of visual display.
About the book:
Through text and lavish images, this work explores the saguaro’s growth into a western icon from the early days of the American railroad to the years bracketing World War II, when Sun Belt boosterism hit its zenith and proponents of tourism succeed in moving the saguaro to the center of the promotional frame. This book explores how the growth of tourism brought the saguaro to ever-larger audiences through the proliferation of western-themed imagery on the American roadside. The history of the saguaro’s popular and highly imaginative range points to the current moment in which the saguaro touches us as a global icon in art, fashion, and entertainment.
