Yes, I’m sort of working backwards through my (4,888!) photos from this trip, because there are so many from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. It’s gonna take me a while to get through them all!

Hoping for extra credit in Professor Curto’s History of Photography class 😉 Kathy & I visited Fort Scott, KS to see the Gordon Parks Museum. We had previously been to Fort Scott in 2020 to visit the Fort Scott National Historic Site, but the museum had been closed.

From the Museum website:

After Gordon Parks attended the first-ever Gordon Parks Celebration in 2004, he gifted the Gordon Parks Center with 30 of his photographs. This spectacular group includes many of his iconic works such as American Gothic, Tuskegee Airmen, Flavio, Ali Sweating, Ingrid Bergman on Stromboli and many others.

In 2006, after his death, his personal effects and other memorabilia, per Gordon’s wishes, were given to the Museum. This valuable collection included many of his awards and medals, personal photos, paintings and drawings of Gordon, plaques, certificates, diplomas and honorary doctorates, selected books and articles, clothing, record player, tennis racquet, magazine articles, his collection of Life magazines and much more.

Since that time, more gifts have been given by his family and friends such as his camera, gifted by his daughter Toni Parks; his film camera and tripod, donated by his son David Parks; a collection of photographs of Gordon donated by Patricia DuBose Duncan, and much more. These gifts have made this collection substantive and significant and we are proud of Gordon’s faith in us to preserve and protect his legacy.

The museum houses a nice collection of Parks memorabilia, including a number of prints, some cameras, numerous awards and displays chronicling Parks’ life and work. I knew him as a photographer and film maker but didn’t realize that he was also a talented musician, composer, writer and poet.