Bisbee’s unique community history the subject of newest Arizona Memory Project collection

PHOENIX – When putting together the audiobook A People's History of Bisbee, author Susan Wille created hours of oral histories through interviews with community members, much of which could not be included in the final product. Afraid that the unused audio clips would be lost to time, the Bisbee Memoir Project was created to share the unique history of Bisbee with Arizona Memory Project visitors. Topics include ranch life, local geology, mining, and the Bisbee deportation.

"Susan Wille spent three years recording, documenting, editing, and writing narration for a remarkable and unparalleled first-person vocal account of Bisbee's most colorful past, leading ‘the town too loved to die' (as she refers to it) to where it is today…the stories are told in vivid detail by 89 of your friends and neighbors who lived through or have expert knowledge of the years of experiences revealed in this multi first person account. Local composers and musicians add to the storytelling process as only our local artists can," said Chuck Alton, producer of Cochise TV.

Researchers of the Bisbee history and the Bisbee Memoir Project collection on the Arizona Memory Project will find personal stories spanning from the 1920s to the 2010s and can listen to the stories indefinitely and on any digital device at http://go.azsos.gov/bisbeememoir.

For questions about this or any digital collection, or for cultural institutions interested in sharing collections on the Arizona Memory Project, contact [email protected].

The Arizona Memory Project provides free online access to the wealth of primary sources in Arizona archives, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions. The Arizona Memory Project is supported by the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

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