The Historic Preservation Office commissioned historic resources surveys associated with Tucson's diverse community history. Once completed, surveys are published on our website. Story Maps share the results of the historic resources surveys in a visually engaging and interactive format.
AFRICAN AMERICANS OF TUCSON STORY MAP
This Story Map represents an overview and selection of historic properties identified as part of a two-phase project, documenting the history of Tucson’s African American community. African Americans have been largely absent from traditional narratives about the history of Tucson. Apart from a 1933 thesis by University of Arizona graduate student James Yancy, most scholarship on Tucson’s African American community has only emerged within the last few decades. The first recorded non-Native person to enter Arizona near present-day Tucson was Esteban de Dorantes, an enslaved Moorish man who accompanied the 1539 Spanish expedition of Fray Marcos de Niza. Approximately three hundred years later, the first African American settlers, Mr. and Mrs. Wiley Box, arrived in Tucson between 1850 and 1855. Since that time, African Americans have left a lasting impact on the history of Tucson that is still expressed in its built environment. Explore this Story Map to learn about neighborhoods, commerce, travel, education, religion, social spaces, and landscapes significant to African American history in Tucson.