Rosano, Aureleo

Part 1 of 2 was recorded at Aureleo Rosano’s house in Tortolita, Arizona on February 19th, 2018 and covers the following themes:

  • A brief overview of Rosano’s life in Connecticut from 1939 to 1960.

  • Move to Tucson in 1960, work at Arroyo Café and El Conquistador Hotel.

  • First impressions of the city: ease of employment, presence of Hollywood celebrities, transience of Tucsonans. Cultural differences between New England and Tucson.

  • Miracle Mile in 1960. The Tucson House. Nightlife.

  • Interest in art and the Tucson art scene in during the 1960s.

  • Planting trees and the move of California nurseries into the Tucson market.

  • Ash Alley. Rosano’s relationship to beat culture.

  • Traffic in 1960s Tucson.

  • The Rodeo Parade.

  • Tombstone in the 1960s.

  • First exposure of mariachi music and novelty of Mexican food in the early 1960s.

  • National Guard experience in 1963. American advisors in Vietnam. Rosano’s training. Cuban Missile Crisis.

  • Rosano’s real estate speculation and purchase of apartments in the 1960s.

  • The development of Casas Adobes and growth of the faux-ranch lifestyle.

  • Tucson’s eastward expansion during the 1960s.

  • Rosano’s scooter trip across America in the early 1960s.


Part 2 of 2 and was recorded at Aureleo Rosano’s house in Tortolita, Arizona on February 28th, 2018 and covers the following themes:

  • East Tucson during the mid-1960s.

  • Social groups in Rosano’s life during the sixties.

  • Purchasing apartments, Tucson’s volatile housing market, and working with locally owned banks.

  • Urban renewal and historic preservation. Myer Avenue before renewal.

  • Work at Hughes Aircraft and descriptions of work, promotion, and facilities.

  • The cultural sixties in Tucson.

  • Aureleo’s art during the 1960s and 1970s.

  • Building an adobe house in the Tortolitas during the early 1970s and the surrounding area.

  • 1973 oil crisis.

  • Work with Johnson Controls as pneumatic technician, pipefitting, steamfitting, and working in underground mines in Superior, AZ.

  • Parenting and schools.

  • Changes over Aureleo’s life. Decreased buying power of regular people. Changes in the viability of art as a career.

PeopleAengus Anderson