Description

Sharlot M. Hall with Mr. & Mrs. F. LaGuardia, Prescott Mayor Charles Robb, Grace M. Sparkes, and unknown man standing in front of the Governor's Mansion

SHARLOT MABRIDTH HALL (b. October 27, 1870, d. April 9, 1943) moved from Lincoln County, Kansas to Arizona in 1882. She moved twelve miles southeast of Prescott, Arizona at Lynx Creek, with her father, James Knox Hall, her mother, Adeline Susannah Hall, and her brother, Edward "Ted" V. Hall.

Sharlot became a poet, a writer, a journalist, an associate editor of "Out West" magazine, and served as Arizona's Territorial Historian from 1909-1912. In addition, she became the first steward and curator of the Arizona Governor's Mansion in Prescott, which she eventually turned into a Museum beginning in 1928. Today, she is the namesake of the Sharlot Hall Museum.

FIORELLO LaGUARDIA (b. December 11, 1882 - September 20, 1947) was a former New York Congressman, and Mayor of New York City from 1934-1946).  He was well-known nationally and is regarded as arguably the best known city mayor in U.S. history.  He had spent part of his childhood in Prescott where his father served as a bandleader at Fort Whipple.  He visited Arizona, including Prescott, in 1935, when this photo was taken.

CHARLES ROBB (b. 1888 - d. September 10, 1972) was born in Ames, Iowa, and lived for a time in Chicago.  He served as an Army Intelligence Officer during World War I.  Later moving to Prescott, he served as Mayor from 1933-1937. 

GRACE MARIAN SPARKES (b. January 21, 1893 - d. October 23, 1963) was a major figure in promoting Prescott growth and tourism during the depression era and beyond.  She served as Secretary of the Prescott Chamber of Commerce for 33 years (1913-1945) and also served as Secretary for the Prescott Frontier Days for 30, among many other positions.  She was a close friend of Sharlot M. Hall.  She has been inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame, and Sharlot Hall Museum Library and Archives has a large collection of her papers and photographs.