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Ken Burns gave Sneak Peek of The Dust Bowl

Oklahoma History Center

Oklahoma City, OK

by Jason Harris, Director of Education 

On Friday, April 13th, documentary historian Ken Burns made his way to the Oklahoma History Center for a series of programs to introduce his newest piece, The Dust Bowl. Burns traveled to Oklahoma to offer viewers a sneak peek at the upcoming documentary and made his way to the panhandle where he local

(l-r) Enjoying the reception are Betty Price, Drew and Linda Edmondson, and Ken Burns

interviewees got the chance to see the film in its final form.

Ken Burns spent the afternoon visiting with a number of groups before his evening program. His first engagement for the day was with a group of graduate students selected from universities from across the state. Public history and film students from UCO, OSU, OU, OCU, and OCCC got the chance to see clips from the film and gain firsthand experiences from producing public history documentaries. Burns provided valuable insight into the research and production process for historical documentaries.

Early in the evening guests at a special reception had the opportunity to hear from Burns as well as a group of 6th grade students from Canton Public Schools. The students (pictured in photo to the right with Jason Harris, OHC Education Director and Ken Burns), Hanna Hood, Brock Hutchison, and Donivan Rogers, presented their National History Day junior performance 6 Million Tons: Earth's Revolt that Led to Revolution before the audience. This group led by teachers Dora Fuqua and Penny Heath placed first in their division at the state finals and will advance to nationals this summer.

Museum goers were entertained with musical pieces from the 1920s and 30s by Teresa Black, historical reenactor and musician before the evening program. Throughout the day more than 300 got the chance to see a glimpse of the upcoming documentary and relive experiences of the Dust Bowl through interviews and images. The documentary, The Dust Bowl, is set for release this fall and will be broadcast on OETA.

Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center

Named 2012 Outstanding New Attraction

Enid, OK

The Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center was recently named a 2012 Outstanding New Attraction at the annual Redbud Awards held Tuesday, May 8, in Oklahoma City. The awards represent the highest honor given in the Oklahoma tourism industry and recognize Oklahoma's top tourism attractions, events, programs and organizations.

New attractions may enter in the Outstanding New Attraction category during the first three years of opening. There was a tie for the Redbud this year with awards going to the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center in Enid, and to the Chickasaw

(l-r) Accepting the award are Kathy Dickson, OHS Director of Museums and Historic Sites and Andi Holland, CSRHC Director

Cultural Center in Sulphur. The new Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center opened in April 2011 and won the award in its first year of operation.

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb and Discover Oklahoma television show host Jenifer Reynolds presented awards to 32 winners during a special evening gala held at the Oklahoma History Center.

More than 100 Redbud entries in 16 categories were evaluated by a slate of out-of-state tourism industry and marketing professionals.  Judging criteria covered customer service and experience, marketing effectiveness, media relations, variety of audiences reached, value, and overall creativity. The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department partners with the Oklahoma Travel Industry Association to present the annual RedBud Awards.

The Redbud Awards were held during National Tourism Week (May 5 - 13) which recognizes the importance of tourism to the national and local economies.  Direct travel expenditures in Oklahoma generate more than $6.2 billion for the state's economy annually and support jobs for 74,900 residents.

For more information on the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center visit the website at www.csrhc.org.