5 C's - Copper

Photos by Lisa E White

If you are reading this on a computer or smartphone, you are using copper.  Copper has been the lifeblood of Arizona's economic history, with its share of highs and lows.  Whereas Arizona still leads the nation in copper production, many mines have closed, turning some towns into near ghost towns, like ever-charming Jerome.  In Scottsdale, copper can be seen in the art, decorations, jewelry and rooftops such as the roofline embellishment at Fleming's at the Hilton.  The copper dome on the State Capitol building has the equivalent of 4,800,000 pennies.  I know for a fact that "Pennies make a monumental difference," a quote by Nancy Chaney still seen today at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.  Our Scottsdale students, helped by John Calvin at Saguaro, held a nationwide penny campaign to raise enough money to put a museum under the Lincoln Memorial devoted to the Lincoln Legacy.  This was student reaction to our former governor, Ev Mecham, denying observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  King's "I Have a Dream Speech" is still part of the basement museum at the Lincoln Memorial thanks to Scottsdale activism.