The Constitutional Convention

In the second row near the center is the unmistakable hulk and balding pate of George W.P. Hunt, the convention president and the man who would become the state’s first and longest-serving governor. Directly behind Hunt in bow tie and fedora is Morris Goldwater. In the back row second from left is future Governor Sidney P. Osborn.

Six years before this photograph was made, Congress had passed a bill allowing the territories of New Mexico and Arizona to merge into a single state. The state would be called Arizona, but the Capitol would be at Santa Fe. New Mexicans liked the idea and when it came to a vote in 1906, voted in favor of joint statehood. Arizonans bridled at the notion and defeated the measure overwhelmingly. President Theodore Roosevelt supported the proposal and angry Phoenix politicians temporarily renamed Roosevelt Street Cleveland Street.

Arizona statehood finally was authorized four years later. On June 20, 1910, President William Howard Taft signed the statehood bill, which allowed Arizona to convene a Constitutional Convention.

Given Arizona’s political climate today, it seems inconceivable that 41 convention delegates were Democrats and just 11 were Republicans. The Democratic majority called for such liberal measures as direct primary elections, initiative and referendum, the recall of elected officials and judges, women’s suffrage and prohibition. Not surprisingly, prohibition failed, as did women’s suffrage. The recall measure passed.

Delegates were warned that President Taft, himself a former judge, would veto Arizona’s proposed Constitution if the recall provision were included. When the delegates adopted the measure anyway and sent the Constitution to Washington, Taft, good to his word, vetoed the resolution—on August 11, 1911. Denied statehood, Arizonans decided to comply with the president’s wishes. At an election on December 12, 1911, the voters removed the recall provision from the Constitution. On February 12, 1912, the Arizona Statehood resolution was ready for the president’s signature. But the 12th was Lincoln’s Birthday, a national holiday. The following day was out of the question, for the number 13 was considered unlucky. This is why Arizona became a state on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1912.

Soon after statehood, the recall was voted on again and became part of the state Constitution.

— Photo courtesy Arizona Historical Society, Tucson; research By W. Lane Rogers.