Bret Harte, Dianne

This interview is with Dianne Bret Harte and covers the following themes:

  • Her parents’ history in Tucson and the Arizona Territory.

  • Dianne’s high school years in Tucson during the 1940s, which includes material on Tucson High, race, the social life of a high school girl, attitudes towards marijuana, and descriptions of downtown Tucson and the Santa Cruz.

  • College at the University of Arizona during the early 1950s, service industry work, and Tucson’s art scene.

  • First journalism jobs at the Tucson Citizen and Arizona Republic.

  • Phoenix in the mid-1950s.

  • Work as society columnist in Tucson in 1955.

  • Transportation between Tucson and Phoenix.

  • Dianne’s friendship with Lew Murphy before he was mayor.

  • Politics in the 1950s and 1960s: Dianne’s role in the Young Republican Club, neighborhoods, friendships across party lines.

Part one of two was recorded at Dianne’s house in Tucson, Arizona on February 15th, 2017.

This interview covers the following themes:

  • The Junior League of Tucson

  • Urban Renewal and downtown Tucson in the 1950s and 1960s.

  • Parenting in the 1950s/60s with a focus on camping and recreation and how being regularly outside the city changed Dianne’s attitude towards the desert.

  • Perceptions of the rapidly-growing east side of Tucson in the 1960s

  • Dianne’s work as editor for the Arizona Historical Society’s member’s publication and her move to the University of Arizona in 1977, where she started working at the Flandrau Science Center.

  • Thoughts on how the University/city relationship has changed since the 1950s.

  • Dianne’s interest in the Campus Arboretum with stories about Dr. Robert Forbes and the prevalence of olives on the UA campus.

  • Work as editor of Lo Que Pasa from 1981 to the mid-1990s and her work creating the University Speaker’s Service.

  • Evolution of Dianne’s political thinking.

  • Dianne’s 18 years of work at the Southwest Foundation.

  • Reflections upon some of the long term changes Dianne has seen in Tucson.

  • And a final section about the Patronato of San Xavier.

Part two of two was recorded at Dianne’s house on February 27th, 2017.

PeopleAengus AndersonTucson High School, University of Arizona, Journalism, Tucson Citizen, Politics, Urban Renewal, Sonoran Desert, University of Arizona - Campus Arboretum, University of Arizona - Lo Que Pasa, Southwest Foundation, San Xavier Mission