Visit Will Rogers Memorial Museum, Claremore OK
Oklahoma Humorist and Author’s Grave, Movies and Writings Preserved
Sep 2, 2008
Some people called him a new Mark Twain. Others just loved his movies. Writer, movie star, comedian, cowboy, radio personality, speaker, social philosopher and political satirist, Will Rogers was the most popular man in the country in the early 20th Century. From trick roper to Presidential candidate, Rogers charmed America until his untimely death in 1935.
The Life of Will Rogers
Growing up in Indian Territory (Oklahoma) in the 1880’s, Rogers learned how to break horses and use a lariat or lasso as both a practical tool and as a means of entertainment. Part Cherokee, Rogers would say, “My ancestors didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat.”
Will Rogers began in show business in the circus, which led to vaudeville and the Ziegfeld Follies, and eventually landed a movie contract. He married Betty Blake of Rogers, Arkansas in 1908 and the couple had four children. All the while, he wrote books and newspaper columns and delivered homespun social philosophy and political barbs on the radio.
In post World War I and Great Depression America, Will Rogers was an extremely popular speaker. He was even nominated for president at the 1932 Democratic Convention before losing to Franklin Roosevelt on the fourth ballot. When he died in an airplane crash in Alaska in 1935, along with aviator Wiley Post, the nation mourned.
Will Rogers Memorial Museum
In 1938, the Will Rogers Memorial Museum was built in Claremore Oklahoma to preserve and showcase the life, wisdom and humor of Will Rogers. The 16,652 limestone structure overlooks the Tiawah Valley and is located on 20-acres of land that Rogers bought in 1911 for his retirement home. It is twelve miles from Dog Iron Ranch (Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch) in Oologah, Oklahoma and 28 miles east of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Renovated and expanded several times over the years, the museum today houses memorabilia, photographs, Rogers’s lariats, costumes, saddles for his horse Soapsuds, movie posters, personal belongings and original manuscripts of his writings. Various galleries display his many careers, from the "Cherokee Kid" trick roper (Rogers was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for throwing three ropes at once) to Hollywood’s highest paid movie star.
Will Rogers made 71 movies during his career, both silent and “Talkies.” The movies run continuously from 8 AM to 5 PM in the museum’s mini-theater and there is also a lecture hall/movie theater that seats about 150 people. Such films as Laughing Bill Hyde, his first made in 1918, Judge Priest made in 1934, and The Ropin’ Fool in 1922 which showed Rogers skills with a rope, can be seen in their entirety.
Outside on the grounds overlooking the valley are the graves of Rogers and his wife Betty. A statue by Electra Waggoner Biggs of Rogers riding Soapsuds titled “Riding into the Sunset” stands guard.
The museum also houses a gift shop, a full research library with over 2000 volumes and thousands of original manuscripts and a children’s interactive museum with a 19th Century schoolroom, puppet theater, radio station and costume room.
Other galleries include original paintings and sculptures from such artists as Charles Banks Wilson, Wayne Cooper and Charles Russell. The statue of Rogers in the rotunda is a casting of the original by Jo Davidson that resides in the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The statue faces the entrance to the House of Representatives so that Rogers can “keep and eye on Congress.”
To learn more about Will Rogers, visit the Will Rogers Memorial Museums, 1720 West Will Rogers Boulevard, Claremore, Oklahoma, (800) 324-9455.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
