“One of the things I was hired for is to raise the visibility of the Sharlot Hall Museum and to get out and tell our story,” Rosebrook said.
Rosebrook, 61, has been attending Frontier Days since he was 7 years old, and he’s no stranger to Prescott, Yavapai County or Arizona. Not bad for a guy born in Santa Monica and raised in North Hollywood.
The Sharlot Hall Museum hired Rosebrook to lead its historical museum and research center. He started July 1.
“I feel blessed to have the opportunity to apply my passions and my professional experience to Sharlot Hall Museum and give back to this community that’s given so much to me and our family,” Rosebrook said.
His related professional experience as an historian is extensive, as is his connection to Prescott and Yavapai County. “My first memory of a trip to Arizona was Tuzigoot (National Monument) and Jerome.” He was 4 years old.
A few years later, in 1971, Rosebrook and his family were enchanted with Prescott during the filming of “Junior Bonner,” a story of an aging rodeo rider starring Steve McQueen.
Rosebrook’s father, Jeb, wrote the screenplay for “Junior Bonner.” It was his much-needed big break in Hollywood with a major motion picture directed by Sam Peckinpah.
As a kid, Rosebrook said he met cast members, watched the production and roamed around Prescott’s historic Courthouse Plaza. He recalls eating at Kendall’s Famous Burgers, buying comic books at a corner drugstore and standing outside The Palace on Whiskey Row.
A half century later, he was back in Prescott working with a committee to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Junior Bonner” during Frontier Days. By then he was on the Sharlot Hall board and involved with Prescott’s Western Heritage Center, Prescott Corral of Westerners and Arizona History Convention, to name a few of his non-profit activities.
Rosebrook has history degrees from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and from Arizona State University, where he earned a master’s and doctorate.
He worked in Phoenix television news production at Channels 10 and 3 in the mid-1980s. Rosebrook spent seven years at Arizona Highways as associate editor of research.
In 2002, Rosebrook and his family moved to The Orme School in Yavapai County, where he served as assistant headmaster of external affairs. His wife, Julie, was a teacher there. She is now a psychologist for the Veterans Administration in Prescott.
Rosebrook had attended summer camp at The Orme School during his childhood and his father graduated eighth grade and high school from the boarding school.
Most recently, Rosebrook has been a writer and editor at True West Magazine.
The Rosebrooks, who have lived in Prescott since 2020, have two children in college: Jeb, 27, and Kristina, 23.
“One of the things I was hired for is to raise the visibility of the Sharlot Hall Museum and to get out and tell our story,” Rosebrook said.
He will also be working on plans for the centennial of Sharlot Hall Museum in 2028.
BEST ADVICE EVER RECEIVED
One piece of advice I received from my father, Jeb Rosebrook’s, partner producer-writer, Joe Bryne, for whom I was working in 1989 on the Fox television series “The Outsiders.” I came to him with a problem one day, and he told me, “Never come to me with a problem without a solution. I might not agree with your solution, but always have a good idea ready to share to solve the issue you are facing.” I’ve never forgotten that and have followed his advice ever since.
WHAT I WANTED TO BE WHEN I GREW UP
I wanted to be a historian or an ambassador. I guess I’d say I’ve been able to do both: I see myself as a professional ambassador of history.
ADVICE FOR MY YOUNGER SELF
Travel more, take more chances personally and professionally, and work in London. I lived in London for a semester and always thought it would be great to go back and work there.
BUCKET LIST MOMENTS COMPLETED
I have three. In 1985, I traveled to the former Soviet Union with a history-political science-language student group from Wake Forest University. We were in Leningrad when they announced Premier Chernenko was dead and the next morning we watched (on Soviet TV) Gorbachev take over in the classic Red Square ceremony.
The second sounds simple, but growing up in Los Angeles, we didn’t get back East a lot and there wasn’t a lot of pomp and circumstance around July 4. When we were living in Williamsburg, Virginia, we got to witness a Thomas Jefferson reenactor read “The Declaration of Independence.” Amazing.
The third, I was able to join my mom and dad, Dorothy and Jeb Rosebrook, in the Frontier Days Parade in 2016, when they honored my father on the 45th anniversary of the making of “Junior Bonner.” I sure wish he could have been here for the 50th. He would have loved it.
WHAT HISTORY HAS TAUGHT ME
I could try and be overly philosophical with my answer, but what history has taught me is to stay positive – stay on the sunny side of the street – and always be grateful for the blessings of life, good friends and family. QCBN
By Peter Corbett, QCBN
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