Heritage Award

The Arizona Heritage Award honors individuals whose accomplishments and commitment to Arizona are recognized not only in Arizona but also nationally and internationally.

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry commissioned noted Arizona sculptor Russell W. Bowers to create a permanent Arizona Heritage Award that captures the individual nature of the honor while portraying the historic significance of the award and its recipients to our great state. Molded in clay and cast in bronze, the Arizona Heritage Award depicts four of Arizona’s greatest and important leaders:

GEORGE W.P. HUNT, the President of the Arizona Constitutional Convention (1911) and our first governor, he was elected to that position seven times, a national record.

CARL HAYDEN, Arizona’s first congressman who served our state in Washington in the U.S. House of Representatives (1912-1927) and the U.S. Senate (1927-1969) for 57 years, a record for congressional service that is unlikely to be broken.

BARRY GOLDWATER, the first Arizonan nominated by a major party to be President of the United States (1964), he was the father of the modern conservative movement in America. He received the first Arizona Heritage Award in 1991.

SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR, a key member of the United States Supreme Court during her quarter-century of service (1981- 2006), she was the first woman to serve on the Court. She received the Arizona Heritage Award in 1993.