page_title: Will Rogers Memorial
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Will Rogers Memorial / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Will Rogers Memorial, Claymore, OK, USA, statue by Jo Davidson
context_page_description: The Will Rogers Memorial Museum is a 19,052-square-foot museum in Claremore, Oklahoma that memorializes entertainer Will Rogers. The museum houses artifacts, memorabilia, photographs, and manuscripts pertaining to Rogers' life, and documentaries, speeches, and movies starring Rogers are shown in a theater. Rogers' tomb is located on its 20-acre grounds overlooking Claremore and Rogers State University.
  Until March 7, 2016, the museum was managed by the Will Rogers Memorial Commission, a state agency. On that date, the Governor of Oklahoma signed legislation dissolving the state commission and transferring the property and all its assets to the Oklahoma Historical Society, another state agency.
context_section_description: Will Rogers was born near Oologah, Oklahoma, where his father had settled. He had originally purchased the land in 1911, a plot containing 20 acres (8.1 ha) that overlooks the Tiawah Valley, as the site of his retirement home. The price was reportedly $500 per acre. After his death, it was passed on to members of the Rogers family. Will's widow, Betty Rogers, donated the property in 1937, during the Great Depression, to the state of Oklahoma.
  The Oklahoma legislature appropriated $200,000 for the construction of a museum honoring Rogers. The original 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m²) limestone building was designed by John Duncan Forsyth. Groundbreaking occurred April 21, 1938, with Will's sister, Sallie Rogers McSpadden, turning the first spadeful of dirt. Construction was completed November 4, 1938, on what would have been Rogers' 59th birthday. The museum opened in 1938, three years after Rogers' death.
  An 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m²) addition was constructed in 1983.
caption: Interior, with Jo Davidson's statue
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