News Release

Robin Pinto Presents for Casa Grande Ruins Annual Speaker Series January 15, 2020

Date: January 3, 2020
Contact: Dave Carney, 520-723-3172

COOLIDGE, AZ – On January 15, 2020 Casa Grande Ruins will host Robin Pinto as part of its annual speaker series. The presentation will begin at noon on January 15 featuring Robin Pinto who will present a lecture titled "The New Deal and the Civilian Conservation Corps in Arizona: Connections to Our Historic Landscapes". The speaker series will continue every Wednesday at noon through March 11.

The history of the New Deal, and how Arizonans responded to its challenges, is an inspirational story of how individuals worked to better themselves; a story of how communities took care of inhabitants and total strangers during drought and Depression; and a story of how we, as a state, could improve the lives of all and leave an important built legacy for generations to come. That legacy is still written in our landscapes, buildings, and communities. We use those historic sidewalks, schools, and post offices without knowing that they were built for us more than 80 years ago. Today we enjoy our parks and forests that were restored for us long ago. We can celebrate those ‘bootstrap’ labors and remind ourselves that we, too, can rise above adversity to improve our lives and the lives of others around us.

Robin Pinto studies the evolution of cultural landscapes in Arizona and focuses on four issues of historic change: early settlement and homesteading, New Deal federal work programs, ranching on public lands, and development of our national parks. She has an MLA and PhD from the University of Arizona. She writes historical landscape assessments for the National Park Service, works with the BLM Heritage Technical Team to study landscape change at the Empire Ranch and Cienega Creek watershed, and volunteers for numerous non-profit preservation organizations. With three other historians, she recently completed a book, Cowboys and Cowgirls around Ajo, Arizona.

The Speaker Series is funded by the Friends of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (http://friendsofcasagranderuins.org/) with additional support from Arizona Humanities (https://azhumanities.org/). The program begins at 12:00 pm in the Casa Grande Ruins visitor center theater at 1100 W Ruins Drive, Coolidge AZ, 85128. There is no fee for the program, and entrance to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is free.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument protects the multi-story Great House and the ruins of other ancient structures built by the people of the Sonoran Desert over 800 years ago. 

The monument is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., May through September, and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., October through April, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Independence Day holidays.  Directions and additional information are available on the monument’s website, http://www.nps.gov/cagr. You may call [phone], or follow us on Facebook by searching for Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.
 

-NPS-