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Did you know
The city picked the first Doña in 1975 to celebrate the bicentennial of the founding of Tucson's first military fort, El Presidio.
That same year the city demolished one of Tucson's earliest neighborhoods near El Presidio, to make way for the Tucson Convention Center.
The demolition for some, like Arnold Avila Smith, symbolized a lack of care for the Spanish architecture and the Hispanic history.
To counter that, he founded Los Descendientes del Presidio de Tucson in 1990 and revived the Doña selection.
Not all Doñas are Hispanic though, in order to reflect the diverse community.
Their main annual fundraiser is the Merienda or tea party, on October 17. Money raised currently supports the women's studies at the University of Arizona.
