Learning Packet: Genius

              SONORAN HERITAGE LEARNING PACKET 



SONORAN HERITAGE is a National Endowment for the Humanities Learning Library program at the Tucson Public Library. 



Schools, museums and other libraries should feel free to reproduce any portion of this printed material for educational use. All other rights reserved. Copr., Tucson Public Library, 1980. 



Editor: Karen (Fisher) Dahood) 



PROJECT STAFF: Kathleen R. Dannreuther, Project Director 

Karen (Fisher) Dahood, Project Writer 

Barbara F. Baun, Secretary 



ADVISORY BOARD: J. Bankson, Charles Bowden, Bernari L. Fontana, Robert C. 

Giebner, James S. Griffith, Patricia Preciado Martin, Gary P. Nabhan, 

Carolyn Niethammer, Thomas E. Sheridan. 



LIBRARY DIRECTOR: John F. Anderson 



COORDINATOR OF ADULT AND YOUNG ADULT SERVICES: Susan M. Goldberg 



TUCSON PUBLIC LIBRARY, Box 27470, Tucson, Arizona 85726/ (602) 791-4391 



SONORAN HERITAGE 

"Genius" Learning Packet 



Introduction 



The important relationship between person and place forms the basis for the materials developed for the Sonoran Heritage topic "Genius." We are especially concerned with a response to landscape and climate, whether on practical or emotional terms. We have assumed that the Sonoran Desert has a genius loci -- a spirit that inspires those of us who are here to create. 



RHYTHMIZOMENA was a workshop combining poetry, music and dance. Twenty-five people of different ages, backgrounds and degrees of experience or talent met for three nights a week, three weeks in a row, to see what would happen in a close encounter with the out-of-doors. This learning packet includes a section to show their accomplishments and to lead others in their tracks. 



BRIGHT IDEAS are suggestions collected from the public in a campaign to find ways to make this an even better place to live. They deal with politics, weather, ecology, and philosophy of life. 



WOMEN OF GENIUS, a poster, only begins to reveal the vast contribution made by women to the Greater Southwest. Mini-biographies of Mary Austin, Georgia O'Keefe, Ida Redbird, Maria Martinez, Nampeyo, Sharlot Hall, Edith Stratton Kitt, Teresa Urrea (the Saint of Caborca) are accompanied by illustrations. Researching the accomplishments... 



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Introduction 

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of women is not an easy task if one depends upon "official" documentation. Currently, much work is being done by historians to uncover the real facts of women's experience in the West, using personal diaries, letters and oral interviews, the words of the women themselves. The story of westward expansion, northward migration, of native adaptation to the desert, of frontier society and acculturation -- is being rewritten, with more attention paid to women's roles. 



Since the poster was produced, several other suggestions have been forwarded to the Sonoran Heritage office. Tom Naylor, Southwest Missions Research Center scholar, nominates "Lady Flo," a woman of extraordinary character about whom little is written, but much was whispered. It seems a Mr. Delaval Beresford, ne'er-do-well, alcoholic Irish lord, established a cattle ranch in northern Chihuahua, not far from EI Paso. He somewhere met a woman of considerable charm who became his common-law wife. "Lady Beresford" devoted ten years of her life to the gentleman's care and managed to put his ranch on a working basis. 



Since they were on a major north-south route, many travelers came their way and some stayed overnight. Most couldn't help but remark upon the most unusual pair. Lady Flo was a novelty in those parts, for not only was she a female managing a ranch, living with a gentleman without benefit of legal marriage, but she was also black! This was more than enough to make them the subjects of gossip and, to some, the objects of scorn, yet she was able to carryon in her endeaver with dignity and grace. When the two went to the large city of El Paso, they lived by the rules. He led the way with his entourage, she followed with hers. The Lord would register at the finest hotel; she would check in at the best accomodation for coloreds. Yet they were known to all of society there, and they traveled freely in the less conservative capitols of the world. 



Through Lady Flo's efforts, they had a fortune in land, and she had her own brand on some of their cattle. It wasn't enough, however, to gain her acceptance in Lord Bereford's family. When he died suddenly in a train accident as he was seeing to his holdings in Canada, Lady Flo... 



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realized that what fortune she had made for him would never be hers. She inherited two-thousand pounds and retired quietly to El Paso where she ran a boardinghouse, occasionally giving little parties for friends who continued to regard her as "Lady Flo." 



Whether or not this woman could be credited with genius is hard to determine without knowing the extent of her talent or the severity of the challenges she faced. Some might say a real genius would have "won out" in the end. In any case, she deserves recognition for her ability to maintain self-respect, live honestly with style, and create a bit of interesting folklore for the region. 



The Sonoran Heritage staff invites further nominations for this category we have called "Women of Genius of the Southwest." All suggestions should be forwarded with some biographical details and substantial reasons for the nomination. Why does this person deserve to be called a "genius"? What criteria has the nominating party used? What does "genius" mean? A file on the women will be kept in the Sonoran Heritage Collection and will be available for researchers and writers, as well as readers using the Tucson Public Library resources. 



Mail to: Women of Genius 



Mail to: Sonoran Heritage "Women of Genius" 

Tucson Public Library 

Box 27470 

Tucson, Arizona 85726 



SONORAN HERITAGE IS A NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES LEARNING LIBRARY PROGRAM AT THE TUCSON PUBLIC LIBRARY. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 791-4391.