Bill Kugelman, 97, poses next to a photo from his wedding day in 1957, on display at the Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center. Kugelman is a Tucson resident and survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Ittai Sopher / Arizona Public Media
March 10, 2022
- According to the Jewish Museum of Tucson and Holocaust Center, there are 70 Holocaust survivors living in Southern Arizona. AZPM contributor Ittai Sopher talks with the only local survivor of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, 97-year-old Tucson resident Bill Kugelman.
Bill Kugelman and Arizona Public Media contributor Ittai Sopher at the Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center. Kugelman, 97, survived the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Ittai Sopher / AZPM
- The current production at the Arizona Theatre Company is Nina Simone: 4 Women, a play with music. The guest director for the play is Tiffany Nichole Greene, who also directs one of the traveling companies that performs the Broadway smash hit musical, Hamilton: An American Musical. Mark talks with Greene about confronting the legacy of the 1963 Alabama Church Bombing, and the social activism of multi-faceted artist Nina Simone.
Tiffany Nichole Greene is the director of "Nina Simone: Four Women."
Tiffany Nichole Greene
A promotional image for "Nina Simone: Four Women," the upcoming play directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene. Arizona Theatre Company
VIEW LARGER Director Tiffany Nichole Greene poses with the cast of, "Nina Simone: Four Women." Tiffany Nichole Greene
Candace Thomas as Nina Simone in Tiffany Nichole Greene's production of "Nina Simone: Four Women."
Tiffany Nichole Greene
- Duncan Moon talks with former NPR reporter Pam Fessler about her non-fiction book Carville’s Cure. It tells the story of a facility in Louisiana that housed and treated people living with Hansen’s Disease, formerly known as leprosy, for more than 100 years. It is also where the cure for the disease was discovered.
Mardi Gras was a big event at Carville, which was located about 70 miles up the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Every year, the patients donned elaborate costumes, built floats and held a Mardi Gras parade on the hospital grounds.
From the collections of the National Hansen’s Disease Museum, Carville LA
The plantation that became the Louisiana Leper Home had been abandoned for years and was in ruins when the first patients arrived in 1894.
From the collections of the National Hansen’s Disease Museum, Carville LA
Two Daughters of Charity, who worked as nurses at Carville, stand in front of a truck used as an ambulance to transport patients along miles of unpaved Louisiana roads to get to the remote leprosarium.
From the collections of the National Hansen’s Disease Museum, Carville LA
The patients had many activities at Carville to help keep up their spirits. They formed bands like this one, performed musicals and plays and held dances.
From the collections of the National Hansen’s Disease Museum, Carville, La.
The patients were extremely proud of their softball team, which played other teams from nearby communities. Carville won the River League championship in 1951, a huge boost to patient morale. That victory became part of the patient’s campaign to win back their freedom and rights.
From the collections of the National Hansen’s Disease Museum, Carville LA
Carville’s patient population was very diverse and its activities and facilities were integrated at a time when much of the rest of the nation remained segregated. Here, male patients celebrate with drinks at the patient canteen.
From the collections of the National Hansen’s Disease Museum, Carville LA
- And, meet Tucson native Henry Barajas, a comic book writer, editor & creator whose has written for genres ranging from biography to high fantasy to superheroes, often incorporating his Latinx perspective in the mix.
VIEW LARGER Henry Barajas, a comic book writer, editor & creator, in his hometown of Tucson. Andrew Brown / AZPM
Cover art from comic books by Henry Barajas: "Helm Greycastle #3" and "La Voz de M.A.Y.O: Tata Rambo"
Henry Barajas / Top Cow Productions
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