"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - CN Contributes To Will Rogers Memorial Museums

(L to R) Steven K. Gregert, Director of Will Rogers Memorial Museums, Cara Cowan Watts, Cherokee Nation tribal councilor representing Rogers County, Joe Grayson, Jr., Cherokee Nation Deputy Principal Chief stand before a portrait of Cherokee humorist Will Rogers. The museum was recently presented with a $10,000 contribution from Cherokee Nation to help fund a special Heritage Gallery.

CLAREMORE, Oklahoma — The Cherokee Nation recently contributed $10,000 to Will Rogers Memorial Museums, an interactive museum that serves as both tribute and monument to the legacy of legendary Cherokee humorist Will Rogers.

“Our mission is to collect, preserve and share the life of Will Rogers’ wisdom and humor of all generations,” said Steven Gragert, director of Will Rogers Memorial Museums.

Will Rogers Memorial Museums is a partnership and friendship that goes back to the roots of Will Rogers, a Cherokee Nation citizen who grew up on the Dog Iron Ranch near Oologah. When the first Will Rogers Memorial Museum originally opened, three-fourths of it was designed to be devoted to the heritage of the American Indians. However, once the family began to send all of Rogers’ personal belongings from years of traveling and collecting, the amount of items grew to such large proportions that the museum instead became solely focused on Will Rogers. It is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to a single person who was not a political leader or military figure.

The contribution made will be used to expand and create a Heritage Gallery to showcase not only the heritage of Rogers’ family but also the Cherokee heritage of Will Rogers. The foundation is already working with the Cherokee Nation on this specific project.

“It’s great to have the opportunity to use these kinds of funds that we are strapped for otherwise and be able to apply them as we see an opportunity,” said Gragert. “It is our great pleasure of getting a chance to work with the Cherokee Nation to proclaim the heritage of Will Rogers and to have that partnership and the friendship that we greatly value.”