Education

The community of Flowing Wells covers 13 square miles, partially in the city of Tucson, as well as in unincorporated Pima County, Arizona. The area was named after the bubbling water from sunken pipes at the base of Sentinel Peak ("A" Mountain) by Warren Allison. Around 1895, Allison bought 500 acres of uncultivated land about three miles northwest of downtown Tucson. He and a sturdy team dug a canal, the Allison Ditch, from his wellfield to his land, called the Flowing Wells Ranch, to grow alfalfa, hay, watermelons, and cantaloupes. Farms, dairies, hatcheries, Gilpin Airport, and the railroad dominated the community throughout the early years. Urbanization was slow but steady, starting in the late 1940s. The community transitioned from farming to residential and industrial, with the school district binding the community together. Flowing Wells, while designated a community, was recognized as an All-America City by the National Civic League in 2007; its residents and those that work within the school district describe it as a family to this day.

Arizona State University was founded in 1885--27 years before statehood--as the Arizona Territorial Normal School. A modest school building was erected on donated pastureland outside Phoenix and was initially dedicated to training public school teachers. The school rapidly evolved through multiple name changes and grew to four campuses and from 33 to over 70,000 students. Currently, ASU is the largest public educational institution in the United States and is also an internationally recognized research university, offering hundreds of areas of study. This book offers a photographic narrative of the institution's dynamic transformation with glimpses of the committed faculty, staff, students, alumni, and citizens who helped make Arizona State University what it is today.