Date: February 9, 2026
The Arizona Historical Society: What is a Historical Society, Anyway?
Speaker: Jennifer Shaffer Merry
Description: The program will cover what the Arizona Historical Society is, what its library and archives can and cannot offer genealogists, and what the difference between a historical society and other repositories are.
Biography: Jennifer once dreamed of becoming the next Howard Carter and achieved a B.A. in classical archaeology from the University of Arizona. Later, due to both her passion for genealogy research and an opportunity to preserve a small family cemetery, she was inspired to pursue an M.A. in History with a concentration in public history. Prior to her current position as an archivist at the Arizona Historical Society, she was the News Content Coordinator for the State of Arizona Research Library, where she managed an extensive newspaper collection and co-wrote an accepted NEH grant. She chairs the Arizona chapter of the Association for Gravestone Studies and sits on boards for several local museums, genealogy, and lineage societies. She speaks on cemetery preservation, symbolism, and law reform, incorporating these and the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) in the Genealogy Research Methods practicum she teaches for ASU’s History Master’s Program. When she isn’t working at AHS or on her own/other people’s genealogy, volunteering, teaching, or with her husband and many pets, she also writes fiction.
Handout: View/Download Handout
In-person meetings are held at the First Presbyterian Church located at 12225 N. 103rd Ave., Sun City, AZ. (click here for map) – will open in new tab in your web browser)
Please arrive after 12:30 pm to sign up for classes, SIGs, or the 2025 Seminar, ask questions of a Board Member or Committee Chairperson, etc. Note: We will not be offering coffee at this time.
The short business meeting will start at 1:00 pm sharp followed by our featured speaker.
UPDATE FROM DUPLICATE BOOKS TEAM
Because we are focusing on preparing duplicate books for the seminar sale on February 21, we will not have duplicate books at the February Membership Meeting.
At the seminar, individual books will be $5 or $10, with special pricing on book sets. Many titles are new to our sale, including a wonderful group of Civil War related books.
As a reminder, we accept cash or check.
Looking forward to seeing you at the seminar!
Jill Mitchell, Elaine Wright, and Della Jones
WVGS Duplicate Book Sales team
Please bring Aluminum Cans & Plastic Bottles to the
Membership Meeting
We appreciate your efforts to collect these items and dropping them off at our Membership Meetings. We especially thank you for collecting from your neighbors and friends. Please be sure to let these helpers know the best way to help us collect and recycle.
Remember, bring them to the church, NOT the Library!
| Not These | Only Clear Plastic |
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| These are NOT accepted and need to be hand picked out of the collection or the whole bag will be rejected. Please, only CLEAR plastic bottles. |
ALUMINUM CANS & CLEAR PLASTIC BOTTLES ONLY Drop-off |
Guidelines for dropping off Aluminum Cans/Clear Plastic Bottles:
- Place aluminum cans and clear plastic-water/soda bottles in separate bags.
- Cans do not have to be crushed, but should be rinsed and empty.
- Water bottles can take up less room if they are smashed before putting the cap back onto the bottle.
Please, NO glass, prescription bottles, milk bottles, or food cans as these items need to be hand picked out. Also, NO bags with holes, as any item not rinsed may leak.