The exhibits in the Navajo County Historic Courthouse Museum and Visitors Center are a result of the hard work of the Navajo County Historical Society and its volunteers.
Recently, 23 new exhibits were introduced. Of particular interest are the Route 66 memorabilia exhibits, located in the Route 66 Auditorium, including an auto grill donated by Holbrook’s Gearheads Car Club, a display case featuring a television from 1960 and music memorabilia of that era, the history of Campbell’s Coffee House and bus depot, motels during the Route 66 era, an automotive display case and the all new courtroom exhibit space located on the second floor.
The Navajo County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization under supervision of an elected board of directors who address the overall scope of the museum. The day-to-day operations are dealt with by volunteers who contribute to the success of the museum in a very big way. All the objects in each exhibit have an object number, is listed on the physical inventory and is entered in the museum’s software data records. In the period of time from 2011 through September 2017, volunteers donated 18,334 hours of their time. Sheri Dupee dedicated two years from 2011 to 2013 to organizing exhibits along with close to two dozen other volunteers.
The volunteers currently helping out at the museum are Historical Society Director JoLynn Fox, who has served at the museum for more than nine years; Trudy Bender, who has volunteered for the last two years and serves on the board; Jan Lucero, who has volunteered for about a year; and Jill Diemer, who has volunteered for the past three months and also serves on the board.
Other board members include Leann Baker, Mary Bragg, Darlene Brinkerhoff, William Fee, Betty Heward, Richard Peterson, D.V. Stuart and Kathleen Smith. Dawn Sawyer is employed as fulltime help, and Assistant Director Nicole Young and Michael Ozment are part-time employees.
The historical society’s mission is to collect, preserve and hold as a public trust the heritage of the citizens of Navajo County. “All objects in the museum, at least 90 percent of them, were owned by people who lived or worked here in the community,” explained Fox.
The society collects documents, printed and published materials, photographs, paintings, and any other items pertaining to Navajo County and the surrounding area, which are preserved and archived in accordance with standard practices. Everything under the care of the society is available for research and viewing by the public.
“When an item comes into our inventory, it must meet our mission, or pertain to Holbrook or Navajo County,” added Fox. Rest assured, if it’s seen in the museum, it has to do with Navajo County. Any item brought to the museum, no matter how old or valuable, must be verified as coming from Navajo County. If not, it won’t be kept, archived or inventoried.
When valid items are received, they are compared against the current inventory. If the item is in better condition than the current item, the old item is replaced and the better one is put in its place. “A lot of stuff that was a duplicate we’ve given to the senior center or First Step Workshop. The society had many magazines that were sold, with the profits going into archives supplies for the society. We just don’t throw stuff away, we try to find it a new home,” said Fox.
“Once a photo is scanned, we put it in a protective sleeve and that goes in an acid free box in the vault. We don’t ever have to touch that picture again, because we have that image in the computer,” stated Fox. If somebody wants that photo, it can be emailed or printed from its scan. Preservation of the museum’s inventory is of the utmost importance.
The Navajo County Historic Courthouse Museum and Visitors Center has been host to more than 500,000 visitors since 1983 and has a vast collection of items from throughout the history of the area. The museum is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, and the Historical Society office is open from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Monday, through Friday. It is located at 100 E. Arizona St. and can be reached by calling 1-800-524-2459 or (928) 524-6558, or going online to holbrookazmuseum.org.
