Museum honors the life and times of Will Rogers
As the 2024 presidential race heats up, officials at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum want visitors to know one thing – Rogers once ran for president.
It was a mock campaign, mounted mostly through Life, the humor magazine, during the 1928 election.
The newspaper columnist, humorist, actor, humanitarian, radio speaker and all around world-class entertainer, kicked off his campaign in May 1928, when Life magazine ran the idea his candidacy – part of the “Anti-Bunk Party” – appealed to “dissatisfied voters of both parties.”
The campaign, with multiple memorabilia, is part of a new exhibit at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, Okla.
“He was the biggest, most beloved star of the 1920s and 1930s,” explained Tad Jones, executive director of the memorial museum. “[The exhibit] focuses on civics and the role politics played.”
A democrat, Rogers believed people could disagree politically, but still take the time to get along with each other.
About the memorial, museum: After Rogers’ death on Aug. 15, 1935, alongside Wiley Post during a plane crash near Point Barrow Alaska, people pulled together to create a memorial to Rogers.
The facility – which opened on Nov. 4, 1938, was envisioned by an informal commission of people including Herbert Hoover, Charles Schwab, Nelson Rockefeller, Elliot Roosevelt and Henry Ford.
While other locations were considered, Jones said the memorial was placed in Claremore, just down the road from the ranch Rogers grew up on – part of Cherokee Nation – near Oologah.
When the memorial opened, then President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the facility and honored Rogers during a radio broadcast from Hyde Park.
In the beginning, Tad said, the memorial was built much like the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., a structure where people could come in and pay their respects. Over time, items connected to Rogers’ legacy began to be donated to the memorial and it evolved into a museum which highlights the various aspects of the man’s life.
Now, almost 90 years later, Tad and others are working to introduce a new generation to Rogers’ body of work – be it written or on screen – with an expansion plan known as the Will Rogers World Citizen Experience.
If plans and fund-raising efforts succeed, Jones hopes the experience will open in Spring 2026, just in time for the 100th anniversary of Route 66 – unofficially dubbed the Will Rogers Highway by the U.S. Highway 66 Association in 1952.
Plans call for the addition of interactive exhibits, including an expansion into the world of Artificial Intelligence. Jones imagines exhibits which fully immerse people into Rogers’ life and world.
“He was a role model citizen,” Tad said, adding people today can learn from Rogers’ many character traits including humility, work ethic, kindness and service. “He was a quality person people can look up to. It’s a chance to see this man and what he meant to our country.”
At least 30,000 people visit the museum each year, Tad said in a large part due to its place along Route 66. Other visitors include third graders learning about Oklahoma history, or students attending the yearly Will’s Wild West Kids Camp, or the annual spring break activities.
Other events include a free movie shown the last Friday of the month in the museum’s theatre – many which feature Rogers or are from the same time period; and a film festival in early November.
“He was such a good person,” Tad said. “It’s hard to find a person with a character people from all backgrounds love. He was a good person to look up to, a role model citizen…who lived his life to the absolute fullest.”
Tad hopes people will visit the memorial museum and take away an appreciation of Rogers’ life and character traits and ultimately strive to be a better person.
“He was very pragmatic in his commentary about politics, farming, war,” Jones said. “A lot of his quotes still apply today, even though he said it almost 90 years ago. We see a lot of the same themes today.
“Will was cutting edge in everything he did.”
If You Go: The Will Rogers Memorial Museum is located at 1720 W. Will Rogers Blvd., in Claremore, approximately one mile west of Route 66.
It’s open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday, from Nov. 11 to March 1, and seven days a week during the spring and summer.
Admission is free for members and children 5 and under; $7 for adults; $5 for seniors 62 and above and for military with ID; and $3 for children 6 to 17.
Tour and school group rates are available. For more information, visit www.willrogers.com.
