National Trust Visit

Mark Costa • November 15, 2023

In October 2023 we hosted leaders from the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) including members of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, the HOPE (Hands On Preservation Experience) Crew, and the Where Women Made History Initiative (see photo).


It was the National Trust who oversees the 11 Most Endangered List on which Camp Naco was included in 2022 that became a watershed moment for the current funding and is a testament to NTHP's continuing support and advocacy to preserve Camp Naco. In addition to Camp Naco, the group toured a constellation of African American heritage sites in southern Arizona in our efforts to build a collaborative regional partnership and have national organizations recognize the unique qualities of the Black experience in the West.


Front row (left to right): Christine Rhodes, Molly Baker (NTHP), Tiffany Tolbert (NTHP), Milan Jordan (NTHP), Juanetta Hill, Michael Engs, Mike Normand. Back row: Becky Orozco, Demetria Warren, Lawana Holland-Moore (NTHP), R. Brooks Jeffery, Christine Morris (NTHP). Not pictured: Bisbee Mayor Ken Budge and Bisbee City Manager Steve Pauken.

Fireplace Chat poster for “The Many Lives of Wing Fang - The Chinese Experience in AZ” with speaker Jaynie Adams
By Jeremy Fricke May 21, 2026
Friday, May 29 | 11:30 am – 12:30 pm — Join us as we step into Arizona’s past through the story of Wing Fang, exploring the resilience, struggles, and everyday lives of Chinese Arizonans in a powerful journey through overlooked history.
Flyer for “Fireplace Chat” with title text, a portrait, and event details for “Rebels & Runaways” in Tucson.
By Jeremy Fricke May 21, 2026
Friday, May 22 | 11:30 am – 12:30 pm — Join us for a powerful look at the young people who helped shape Arizona’s history through stories often left untold, presented by a first-generation Colombian American historian focused on community storytelling and hidden histories.
By Jeremy Fricke April 7, 2026
Thursday, April 23rd, 5:30 PM Free Online Event, Register Here We’re honored to invite you to a special upcoming program with Jeff Haozous, co-founder of Ndé Bikéeyá, the Chiricahua Apache Land Trust. In this virtual talk, Apaches and Earth Mother , Jeff will explore how the Chiricahua Apache people have expressed their deep connection to the natural world through language, stories, and culture. His work—both as a leader and as someone living in the Cochise Stronghold—offers powerful insight into the enduring relationship between people and place in the borderlands.
By Jeremy Fricke April 7, 2026
Thursdays, April 16th, April 30th, & May 14th, 6:00 PM Goar Park Lunches, 89 Main Street, Bisbee Free to Attend (Donations welcome and benefit Naco Heritage Alliance and Goar Park Lunches) - Register Here This April, Camp Naco Fellow Marilyn Noble brings Endangered Foods of the Borderlands to life—a three-part series exploring the deep histories behind everyday foods of the region. Through tastings and conversation, Marilyn draws on her work as a journalist, author, and food writer to connect dishes like chiltepín, empanadas, and masa to the people and stories of the borderlands. It’s part history, part storytelling, and part shared table. As part of her Naco Heritage Alliance Fellowship, and working in partnership with Goar Park Lunches, Marilyn is uncovering overlooked narratives of this region, and this series offers a delicious entry point into that larger exploration—one rooted in community, memory, and resilience. 🌶️ April 16th - The Chiltepin: The Hot Mother of All Chiles 🥟 April 30th - From Cornish Pasties to Mexican Empanadas: Hand-held Meals for Miners 🌽 May 14th - Masa: From Dried Corn to Tortillas, the Secrets to Making Nixtamal Come learn, discuss, and taste! Register here for one session, or all three!
By Jeremy Fricke April 7, 2026
Friday, April 10, 2026 2118 West Newell Street, Naco Free to attend, Registration Required Take a walk through history at Camp Naco. Join us for a guided tour exploring the site, the story of the Buffalo Soldiers, and the ongoing work to preserve this historic place. Register here to reserve your space today!
By Jeremy Fricke January 22, 2026
Thursday, February 12, 5-6:00 PM MST Online and Free to Attend Register at this link. During the era of the Mexican Revolution, many African Americans traveled and lived in Mexico. Join Naco Heritage Alliance with special guest Dr. Laura Hooton as she provides a glimpse into the experiences of some of these men and women, including activists, businessmen, soldiers, writers, athletes, and travelers. About The Speaker Dr. Laura Hooton is an Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the History Department at New Mexico State University. She teaches and writes about African American history, borderlands history, migration and immigration, and social movements and civil rights. She is the co-author of Almost All Aliens: Immigration, Race, and Colonialism in American History and Identity , Second Edition. Her next book, Little Liberia: A Dream of Black Freedom in the US-Mexico Borderlands , will be published this year.
By Jeremy Fricke January 6, 2026
January 16, 23, & 30, 2-3:30 PM Copper Queen Library - 6 Main Street, Bisbee Free to attend In partnership with Copper Queen Library, Naco Heritage Alliance is excited to present this free, three-part educational series on the history of the Borderlands with Becky Orozco, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Cochise College. Attend all three events, or one or two that suit your interests. January 16 - The Archaeology of Cochise County For more than 10,000 years people have called this region home. Learn about the prehistoric residents of our region from the earliest residents who hunted now extinct mammoths through the first indigenous peoples who encountered explorers from Spain and the United States. January 23 - La Frontera: A History of Our Border Region Cochise County has always been a borderlands. From prehistoric times the mountains and valleys of the sky islands have been corridors for explorations and conquest. The first Spanish explorers traveled these pathways in the 16th Century. Mexico's battles for independence and then in revolution often focused on this northern frontier. The westward push for gold and Manifest Destiny established the current line. Learn how these stories still resonate and shape today's borderline. January 30 - A History of Conflict: Camp Naco, the Bisbee Deportation and World War I Our small section of the US-Mexico border has been the focus of major military and civil conflicts in the early 20th Century. Learn how the stories of these people and events intertwined in this small region of Cochise County and how work continues int he present to preserve this history.
By Jeremy Fricke December 1, 2025
Friday, December 19th, 4:00 - 7:00PM Boys & Girls Club of Bisbee - 405 Arizona Street, Bisbee, AZ Free to attend with registration, $35 Custom Gingerbread Barracks Kit available while supplies last. Register to attend and/or reserve your gingerbread kit at https://givebutter.com/adobe-gingerbread. Join us for Adobe & Gingerbread, a family-friendly evening that blends tradition, creativity, and a little bit of borderlands flavor. Enjoy a special presentation on traditional adobe building by Zach Palma of Sky Island Alliance, tasty food from Goar Park Lunches, and plenty of hands-on holiday fun. Custom Camp Naco–inspired gingerbread barracks kits will be available for purchase, and the event is free with reservation. Come learn something new, build something sweet, and kick off the holidays with our community!
By Jeremy Fricke November 20, 2025
Friday, December 5th, 7:00 PM Central School Project Theater - 43 Howell Ave, Bisbee, AZ Free to attend, refreshments by donation. Central School Project and Naco Heritage Alliance have partnered up to deliver this special movie night in the Central School Project theater! Harrod Blank, Les Blank's son, also a filmmaker and truly a maker of magic and wonder in Douglas with his Art Car world, will be present and will lead a Q&A following the screening of this timeless beautiful movie that speaks to immigration, and celebrates food, music, resilience, and love of life. Doors open at 6:30 PM.
By Mark Costa October 24, 2025
Veterans Day, Tuesday November 11, 2pm Rothery Education Center – 3305 E. Fry Blvd, Sierra Vista Food provided by Tee Pee Fry Bread of Huachuca City Free to attend, registration required and space is limited Register here: https://givebutter.com/WarriorTradition Join the Naco Heritage Alliance for a Veterans Day movie night. This one-hour, national documentary tells the astonishing, heartbreaking, inspiring, and largely-untold story of Native Americans in the United States military. Come learn more about Native Americans and their stories related to the military and the United States. Our sincere thanks to Legacy Foundation of Southeast Arizona ( www.lfsaz.org ) for making this event possible. Food will also be provided at the event by Tee Pee Fry Bread, offering plenty of options, from sweet to savory. "The Warrior Tradition describes the complex Native American situation in our society. Why would Indian men and women put their lives on the line for the very government that took their homelands? The film relates the stories of Native American warriors from their own points of view – stories of service and pain, of courage and fear." - PBS.org For additional information or to register by phone, contact Program Associate Cesilia Garcia at (520) 910–1169