July 31, 2015

Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum Named in Top Ten U.S. Cowboy and Agricultural Museums
Pawnee Bill Ranch Banner

True West magazine has named the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum one of the Top Ten Cowboy and Agricultural Museums in the United States. The September 2015 edition of the magazine ranks the 500-acre historic site fifth in the nation in that category. True West devoted much of the issue to highlighting western museums that showcase new visions of the past, present and future. Other Oklahoma institutions recognized in different categories are the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and the Gilcrease Museum.

 

The Pawnee Bill Ranch was once the home of Wild West showman Gordon W. Lillie. The ranch includes a historic home, a visitor's center, log cabin, blacksmith shop, barn, observation tower and a herd of bison, longhorns and horses. The ranch is open seven days a week April through October and is closed Mondays and Tuesdays November through March. Visitors can tour the entire facility during normal hours of operation and specialized programming is available upon request for groups who make reservations in advance. For more information please call 918-762-2513 or go to www.pawneebillranch.com.

"Photographing the Plains: Farm Security Administration, 1935-45"
On display through 2015
Oklahoma History Center | Oklahoma City, OK

The Oklahoma History Center announces the opening of its newest exhibit, "Photographing the Plains: Farm Security Administration, 1935-45," displaying twenty black and white photographs from the Farm Security Administration (FSA) taken between 1935 and 1945. The exhibit is being displayed in the Chesapeake Events Center and is available for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. 

 

The FSA began in 1937 as the successor of the Resettlement Administration, a branch of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal responding to the devastating effects of the Great Depression. Roy Stryker was the person responsible for documenting this program by providing photographs to public relation outlets, including newspapers and magazines. "We, of course, undoubtedly affected a lot of people. We made a lot of people aware. When all is said and done, the problem of the Depression of that period was the suffering of the human beings who were caught and trapped in it," said Stryker. During the run of this project, approximately 175,000 black and white negatives and 1,600 color transparencies were produced. These images are now housed at the Library of Congress, are digitized, and available to the public.

 

Although Stryker was not a photographer himself, he promoted using the camera as a tool to document society. His work, especially in the early years of the FSA, was to enhance the public's perception of the federal aid programs for the destitute. Stryker led the Resettlement Administration and the FSA from 1935 to 1943 and was responsible for launching the careers of photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Gordon Parks, among others, and for building an unmatched photographic legacy of life in America.

Public Meeting for Input on Development of FY 2016 Program
Friday, September 11, 2015 at 10:30 a.m.
Oklahoma History Center | Oklahoma City, OK

The Oklahoma Historical Society's State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) will hold a public meeting at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, September 11, 2015, in the Oklahoma History Center classroom located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr. (just northeast of the State Capitol) in Oklahoma City. SHPO staff will provide information about the statewide preservation program and will receive public input for development of the Fiscal Year 2016 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) application to the U.S. Department of the Interior. The SHPO expects to receive approximately $830,000 from the HPF for its programs and operations. Of this award, 10 percent of the funding is reserved for pass-through grants to Certified Local Governments (CLGs).

 

Under the National Historic Preservation Act, the SHPO administers the federal historic preservation program in Oklahoma. The purpose of the program is to encourage preservation of the state's archaeological and historic resources for everyone's benefit. The SHPO conducts surveys to identify archaeological and historic resources; nominates eligible properties to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP); comments on the effects of federal undertakings on archaeological and historic resources; develops the statewide preservation plan; administers the CLG Program; provides comments to the National Park Service about rehabilitation projects proposed for federal tax credits; and provides public outreach programs and technical assistance to preservation professionals, government agencies and interested citizens.

 

"Tomorrow's Legacy: Oklahoma's Statewide Preservation Plan (January 2015-December 2019)" (available from the SHPO or at www.okhistory.org/shpo/stateplan.htm) sets forth the statewide preservation community's goals and objectives. The SHPO's priorities for addressing the State Plan's goals are continuation of the archaeological and historic/architectural resources survey program, with special emphasis on resources associated with underrepresented peoples, and extension of survey coverage to previously unstudied areas; preparation of NRHP nominations; and continuation of public outreach and technical assistance programs. The public's ideas and priorities for the SHPO's activities in each of these program areas in FY 2016 will help strengthen the preservation of Oklahoma's heritage.

 

If you are unable to attend the meeting, your written comments and suggestions are welcome. You may complete the SHPO's "Project Suggestion Form" and return it by 5 p.m., Friday, September 11, 2015. Call the SHPO at 405-521-6249 or email Melvena Heisch at [email protected] to request the form or obtain it at http://www.okhistory.org/shpo/spevents.htm.

 

Oklahoma History Center

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Development Department

Oklahoma Historical Society

800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive

Oklahoma City, OK  73105

OHS EVENTS

 8/1, Back to School Activities, 1pm, 405-375-5176

8/15, Tatting Lace Making Workshop, 1pm, 405-375-5176
Gateway to OK History

Visitor Info  
From the Encyclopedia...

Learn a bit more about the Farm Security Administration before visiting the photography exhibit at the OHC with this entry.

Nicole Harvey, Editor

[email protected]
(405) 522-5202