Pima County Tucson Womens Commission Turns 50 Celebrate the Legacy Shape Whats Next
- Pima County Tucson Womens Commission
- Aug 6
- 5 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
The Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission will mark a major milestone on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, as it celebrates 50 years of advocacy for women and girls across Southern Arizona.
The anniversary gathering will take place on Women’s Equality Day at the YWCA of SOuthern Arizona at 525 N. Bonita Ave., from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. The evening will honor the Commission’s long record of public service, launch the PCTWC 50th Anniversary Legacy Book, and invite the community to help shape the work still ahead.
Approved by ordinance in December 1975, the Commission held its first meeting on January 4, 1976. That start made 2026 the Commission’s fiftieth year of working to expose, eliminate, and prevent discrimination against women, while advancing full equality of opportunity throughout Southern Arizona.
The anniversary event will honor 50 years of local advocacy
The 50th Anniversary celebration will bring together former commissioners, civic leaders, community partners, families, and residents who have been touched by the Commission’s work.
The anticipated program will include remarks from local and state leaders. It will also feature a keynote address by Alison Hughes, the Commission’s founding executive director AND a 2026 Inductee into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame.
The event is scheduled for:
Detail | Information |
Event | Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission 50th Anniversary |
Date | Wednesday, August 26, 2026 |
Occasion | Women’s Equality Day |
Time | 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. |
Location | YWCA of Southern Arizona, 525 N. Bonita Ave., Tucson, Arizona |
Focus | Celebrate the legacy, launch the Legacy Book, and shape the next chapter |
The date carries meaning. Women’s Equality Day marks the certification of the 19th Amendment, which recognized women’s right to vote in the United States. Holding the anniversary on August 26 links the Commission’s local history to the larger fight for civic rights and equal participation.
The Commission has advised Tucson and Pima County for five decades
For 50 years, the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission has served as an advisory body to the Mayor and Tucson City Council and the Pima County Board of Supervisors. Its role has centered on the issues that shape the daily lives of women and girls.
Those issues have included:
Safety and domestic violence services
Economic equity and pay
Health and wellness
Childcare and housing
Girls’ leadership and education
Women’s civic representation
The Commission’s work has helped keep public attention on barriers that can limit opportunity. It has also provided a local forum for identifying needs, listening to residents, and advising elected officials on policy concerns.
That kind of work often happens over many years. It can be measured not only in reports, meetings, and recommendations, but also in the steady presence of people who insist that women’s lives belong at the center of public decision-making.
The Legacy Book will preserve the names and stories behind the work
As part of the anniversary, the Commission is launching the PCTWC 50th Anniversary Legacy Book. The book is described as a living collection of the women who have served since the first 1976 meeting.
The Legacy Book will recognize the commissioners who helped build and sustain the Commission across different eras. Each term of service carries a piece of the larger story, from early efforts to establish the Commission’s public role to later work on safety, equity, representation, and access.
Every former commissioner is invited to be part of the anniversary effort. The Commission’s announcement notes that former commissioners are being called into this moment of remembrance and renewal, with the Legacy Book serving as a way to connect past service to future direction.
The project matters because institutional memory can fade. Names are lost. Records sit in boxes. Key contributions may be remembered by a few people but never passed on to the next generation. A living Legacy Book can help keep that history visible.
It can also show younger advocates that progress is built by many hands. Public change rarely happens because of one person or one vote. It grows through long service, local knowledge, and repeated efforts to keep equity on the public agenda.
Southern Arizona nominees will receive special recognition
The anniversary evening will also include a partnership with the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame. As part of that partnership, the event will bring special recognition to this year’s nominees, as a way to highlight to the Southern Arizona community their upcoming official Induction event to be held October 19, 2026 at the Western Spirit Museum in Scottsdale. Details will be shared when available.
The 2026 inductees include:
Contemporary
Alison Marshall Hughes, Tucson
Daisy Bell Jenkins, Oro Valley
Paula Diangreco Cullison, Phoenix
Legacy
Dr. Laura Noble Banks Reed, Tucson
May Hicks Curtis Hill, Flagstaff
Alison Hughes holds a special place in the Commission’s story as its founding executive director. Daisy Bell Jenkins and Dr. Laura Noble Banks also represent the depth of Southern Arizona’s civic and community legacy. Their recognition during the anniversary event places the Commission’s history in conversation with the wider history of women’s leadership across the state.
This recognition connects the Commission’s 50th anniversary to a broader statewide effort to honor women whose leadership, service, and public contributions have helped shape Arizona.
Arizona’s record on women in office gives the milestone added meaning
The Commission’s 50th year arrives at a time when Arizona stands out for women’s civic representation. Women now hold nearly half of all legislative seats in the state, making Arizona one of the strongest states in the nation for women in elected office.
That progress did not happen in isolation. Civic representation grows when communities support leadership, remove barriers, and create public spaces where women’s voices are heard. The Commission’s work over five decades has been part of that wider effort in Southern Arizona.
Representation matters in practical ways. When more women serve in public office, public conversations are more likely to include lived experience around childcare, caregiving, housing, safety, health, wages, education, and family life. Those issues affect entire communities, not only women.
The Pima County Tucson Womens Commission Turns 50 Celebrate the Legacy Shape Whats Next anniversary marks both a celebration and a reminder. The progress is real, and the work is not finished.
The next chapter will depend on public memory and public participation
A 50th anniversary creates a natural pause. It gives a community time to look back, name what was hard-won, and remember the people who carried the work forward. It also raises a clear question: what should the next 50 years require?
For the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission, the next chapter will likely continue to reflect the needs that have long shaped its work. Safety, equity, wellness, housing, childcare, education, and representation remain deeply connected. Progress in one area often depends on progress in another.
A survivor seeking safety may also need stable housing. A parent pursuing work may need reliable childcare. A young person building confidence may need mentors, safe schools, and examples of women in leadership. A community seeking fair policy must make room for the experiences of those most affected by public decisions.
The anniversary event gives residents and former commissioners a chance to honor that connected work. It also gives civic leaders a chance to listen, reflect, and recommit.
A milestone built on service and a future still being written
The Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission began with a public charge to expose, eliminate, and prevent discrimination against women. Fifty years later, that charge still carries weight.
The August 26, 2026 celebration will honor the people who made the Commission’s work possible, recognize Southern Arizona leaders through the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame partnership, and launch a Legacy Book meant to preserve the names and service of former commissioners.
Most of all, the anniversary will point forward. The next chapter will be shaped by the same forces that built the first 50 years: persistence, public service, local leadership, and a shared belief that equality must be made real in everyday life.
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