GCHS Board Members Meet with Sister Organizations
On January 23rd, Grand Canyon Historical Society board members, Alan Petersen, Wayne Ranney, and Kevin Schindler met with Liz Silkes and Mindy Riesenberg of the Grand Canyon Conservancy. The group discussed our common interests and goals and ways that we might collaborate in the future. The meeting resulted in the following points of agreement:
A) The two groups will explore the benefits of an agreement (or statement) on a potential future partnership/cooperation (?).
B) The GCHS can readily assist Mindy with articles and content in “Canyon Views” and/or other Grand Canyon related content
C) Willingness on the part of the GCHS to partner with the GCC on the new South Rim art museum and restoration or replacement of the Brighty statue damaged when the North Rim Lodge burned in July 2025.
D) The GCHS seeks active participation from members of the GCC on the June 30th 70th commemoration of the 1956 Midair Collision Over Grand Canyon.
E) The GCHS is willing to assist GCC in further outreach and connections in Northern Arizona.
In mid-March GCHS President Tom Sulpizio and Vice-President Davy Crockett, visited the Arizona History Museum in Tucson. GCHS is an affiliate of the Arizona Historical Society which operates the museum. They met with the collections manager, and then viewed and photographed their collection of three pieces of wreckage from the 1956 Grand Canyon Midair Collision. They also viewed the curator notes about each piece.
The three pieces are all from the United DC-7 crash site on Chuar Butte. Tom learned about the collection from fellow Patrons member and aviation archaeologist Mike McComb who featured the wreckage at his “Lost Flights” website. Mike provided aviation insights about each piece in the 1990s to the museum curator.
The museum acquired these first two mechanical pieces in March 1967 from an anonymous donor. That date alone is remarkable in that it was less than eleven years after the crash. The wreckage was likely collected in one of the many early clean-ups of the site. Note that there are two other pieces of larger wreckage, also from the United DC-7, which are stored in the Grand Canyon Museum Special Collection at the South Rim.
