Editing Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (section)

== Hal Gras and the Desert Ark program ==
One of the most influential staff members in the history of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum was Harold W. "Hal" Gras Jr., more commonly known as Hal Gras. According to David Leighton, historian for the ''[[Arizona Daily Star]]'' newspaper, Gras was born in New Jersey, in 1919. After serving in [[World War II]] and getting married, he relocated to El Paso, Texas where he received his college degree in broadcasting. In 1950, he moved to [[Tucson, Arizona]], where he worked in radio and then television.

In 1952, when the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum opened its doors, Hal Gras and his wife Natie attended its opening and, as a result Gras began hosting the museum's TV show, ''Desert Trails'' (renamed ''The Desert Speaks'' when it moved to KUAT around 1990). The show first aired in 1953, and would run for 32 years, with Gras hosting 1,551 shows. From 1955 to 1972, Gras was the public relations director for the museum. He visited local clubs and talked about the museum. Though he had little or no experience with animals, he started bringing some along with him for his appearances. Soon the popularity of his talks increased and he started bringing creatures from the museum to schools, hospitals, county fairs, etc. The program and the car that Gras brought the animals in both came to be called "The Desert Ark".

When Gras retired in 1985, he had presented a total of 5,382 Desert Ark programs. A few years after his retirement, a small street south of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, along Kinney Road, was named Hal Gras Road in his honor. He would die in 1999.<ref>[http://tucson.com/news/blogs/streetsmarts/street-smarts-desert-ark-founder-introduced-tucson-kids-to-desert/article_c25e2d70-766c-515f-8851-38b57bb6ae8d.html David Leighton, "Street Smarts: 'Desert Ark' founder introduced Tucson kids to desert creatures," Arizona Daily Star, Oct. 13, 2014]</ref>