The L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum and Exploration Center will host Len Marcisz in its first in a summer speaker series Thursday, June 23.

The program begins at 4:30 p.m. in the conference room, located between the museum and the library. The special presentation is a members’ only event and free to members. Non-members are invited to purchase an individual membership for $25 or a family membership for $35.

Marcisz is former president of the Arizona Historical Society and serves in an advisory role for exhibits and programming at the River of Time. He will share his recent research and discoveries about the lives of the White Family. The name of the presentation is “Expelled: The Story of a Frontier Injustice.”

The presentation provides an explication of the burning of the Patrick and Annie White homestead by U.S. Army troops in 1880 and sheds new light on the homestead artifacts displayed at the River of Time.

The White homestead was located north of Fountain Hills and the Fort McDowell military reservations and directly east of Rio Verde. Neither Annie nor Patrick White, Irish immigrants, were present when their seven children were evicted and their homestead burned.

Why would the U.S. Army destroy a civilian homestead? Why were the officers complicit in the destruction not held accountable? What really happened to Patrick, Annie and their children?

Marcisz’s presentation goes beyond the late Bob Mason’s novel, “The Burning,” and beyond Mason’s summary of the incident in his historical book, “Verde Valley Lore.”

Marcisz has spoken to museum members in the past and is a popular speaker. Visit riveroftime.center to register.