Radical journalist Andrew Kopkind once quipped that Arizona and its capital, Phoenix, were “at the mercy of [their] own myths.” That was as true in 1965 as it is today. Local promoters have long credited central air conditioning with making the Valley of the Sun livable. The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, in particular, has promoted hot, arid Central Arizona as “the air-conditioning capital of the world.” But no matter what anyone tells you, industry did not come to Arizona—and Phoenix did not sprawl—because of air conditioning.
Elizabeth Tandy Shermer
Elizabeth Tandy Shermer is an assistant professor of history at Loyola University Chicago, where she offers courses on business, labor, politics, and public policy. The University of Pennsylvania Press published her most recent book, Sunbelt Capitalism: Phoenix and the Transformation of American Politics. She is now writing The Business of Education, which explores how corporations shaped public universities to serve their workforce and R&D needs over the course of the twentieth century.
