Midvale, Frank

Arizona archaeologist.

From the description of Frank Midvale papers, 1865-1972, bulk 1930-1972. (Scottsdale Public Library). WorldCat record id: 45826256

Frank J. Midvale was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on May 9, 1903 and moved with his family to Phoenix, Arizona in 1907. He demonstrated an early interest in archeology, showing some stone axes he had found to city archaeologist Omar A. Turney when he was in the fifth grade. Midvale went on to aid Turney in mapping prehistoric canal systems in the Phoenix area and purchased Mesa Grande (a Classic period mound) from a Mesa, Arizona farmer in 1927.

Midvale was admitted to the University of Arizona in 1924 and attended for a year before returning to his work. He supervised expeditions for Phoenix businessman Dwight B. Heard in 1927, 1928, and 1929 at La Ciudad and worked at odd jobs during the early 1930s. He returned to the University of Arizona in 1931 and graduated with his bachelor's degree in 1938. He then entered the University's graduate program in archaeology and stayed in Tucson until 1940.

When several Army Air Force training fields were proposed for construction in the Salt River Valley, Midvale mapped the archaeological features likely to be destroyed by the construction of Williams Air Force Base. This site is now known as the Midvale Site and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Midvale joined the AAF in 1942.

In 1944, Midvale married Grace Murdock. The couple had two children, Edward and Lorraine (Midvale) McGaw. The family moved to Mesa Grande in 1951 and Frank Midvale began a career as a public school teacher in Ajo, Arizona in 1955. He taught until 1960, commuting 140 miles to Mesa Grande on the weekends to help supervise the excavations being conducted by Dr. Kenneth Stewart and students from Arizona State University. He became a seasonal ranger at Casa Grande National Monument in 1962, continuing to serve until his retirement in 1968. The Midvales sold Mesa Grande to a Phoenix businessman in 1963. Frank Midvale also completed his Master's Degree in Archaeology at the University of Arizona (1954) and continued mapping prehistoric canals along the Gila River until his death in November of 1971.

Source: Morris, Donald H. Frank J. Midvale, 1903-1971 . American Antiquity (39:3), July 1974.

From the guide to the Frank Midvale Papers, 1865-1972, 1930-1972, (Arizona State University Libraries Arizona Collection)