Arizona State Archives

08/21/2026

- What National or State Parks have been your favorite to visit? And which ones are you hoping to visit in your lifetime?
Featuring pictures of our own Grand Canyon National Park, circa 1980, as part of the Office of Tourism collection here. I wonder what that young man is reading?

08/07/2026

- Our archival volunteers uncovered this fun photograph of the City of Avondale's firefighters and police gathered together. Do you recognize anyone in the photo? We'd love to hear your memories in the comments!

07/25/2026

Today we celebrate National - did you know that she would stop by the airport in Tucson frequently to refuel and take breaks? The first image here is from our Tourism collection highlighting Pima Air and Space Museum, where you can see the same kind of plane Amelia Earhart flew on her ill-fated trip, the Lockheed Model 10: https://pimaair.org/museum-aircraft/lockheed-model-10 (I can't tell if the plane pictured in our image is the Lockheed, though)
The rest are just beautiful images of planes in the beautiful Arizona landscape.

Have you ever seen Arizona by air in one of these small planes? Where did you fly or where would you like to fly?

07/24/2026

07/22/2026

Thanks for coming by to research! Here's an example of the types of things people come to us to look up.

07/22/2026

It's that time of year again - we're gathering submissions from local libraries, archives, and historical societies for the annual Arizona Archives Month Poster that we create each October. This year's theme is ARIZONA 250: ARIZONA'S IMPACT ON THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

We ask for submissions highlighting Arizona throughout the 250-year history of the United States. How has Arizona impacted the United States – what contributions have we made to the country at large? What are our claims to fame? How have famous (or infamous) Arizonans changed our nation? What stories, landscapes, and communities shaped the region now known as Arizona 250 years ago? What do archival materials reveal about life in the region now known as Arizona 250 years ago? Look through your collection for anything you think might help us illustrate an overview of Arizona’s impact on the United States.

Here is what to do:
1️⃣ Please make sure that you hold clear copyright to the images you are submitting! No copies of photos from research collections or scans from published materials will be accepted.
2️⃣Please submit your images by email or file share. Images must be high-resolution (600 dpi minimum) for ready use.
3️⃣Please do not embed the images in a document; send them as individual JPG or TIF attachments.
4️⃣Include the following with your submission:
Description of each item (dates, locations, persons, identifying number, etc.)
Name, address, and social media handles of your repository
Contact person (Name, address, telephone number, and e-mail)

Please email submissions to [email protected], SUBJECT: Archives Month Poster Submission

I can't wait to see what you submit! Deadline is July 31st, 2026

07/10/2026

It was an exciting week here at the State Archives and - we made room for some brand new microfilm readers! We still have some of the old school ones, but it's so interesting to see how technology has evolved.
Our new readers allow you to adjust the camera setting to read the film better and even take pictures to save your research as a PDF.

07/04/2026

Happy 4th of July from us here at the State Archives, and happy 250th birthday, America! I thought I'd share some historical Independence Day celebrations and patriotic pieces in our collection. The background of this post is actually a picture of one of our few physical artifacts, a flag that belonged to Frank Luke Jr. in WWI - https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/217977
The parade photos are from our E.M. Jennings photo collection featuring firefighters in a parade in Prescott in 1891
https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/230303 https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/230293

How are you celebrating this year? Finding a parade, fireworks, enjoying the pool or barbecue? Or just trying to keep it low key? However you're celebrating, I hope you have the best day.

06/27/2026

This week we're talking about microfilm vs. microfiche - do you know the differences?

We love both microforms here at the State Archives - it's a great way to preserve original copies by photographing them and printing them at a very reduced size onto film, then using a microfilm reader to view them. This protects the originals from being handled, and they're easier to store and pull for you - I know I certainly appreciate when the big giant tax books we have are on microfilm!

06/21/2026

Happy Father's Day from all of us here at the State Archives! I was able to find more proclamations for Father's Day, this time from Gov. Fannin in 1962 - he also went as far as to proclaim that beef should be served on Father's Day along with the Arizona Cowbelles! I also found some wonderful photos in our Tourism collection featuring some guys serving major dad energy while grilling some burgers in the desert. I love how he's holding that burger like the catch of the day!

What food would you proclaim be eaten on Father's Day if you were Governor? Or would you be too busy grilling and enjoying a summer Sunday to bother?