The Gordon Parks Museum is celebrating the production of the movie The Learning Tree, fifty years ago, during its annual Gordon Parks Celebration Oct. 3-5 in the museum located on the campus of Fort Scott Community College, 2401 S. Horton.

The movie had Fort Scott residents as “extras” and featured scenes from the town, where Parks lived in his youth.

Some of the movie film’s characters will be highlighted at the annual celebration.

Karole Graham, Stephen Perry and S. Pearl Sharp  were cast members in the movie  produced by Gordon Parks  50 years ago and are the recipients of the “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” for 2019.

The “extras” are being asked to come to a reunion of cast members on Saturday, Oct. 5  from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

The annual event is in honor Parks- noted photographer, writer, musician, and filmmaker.

This year’s celebration will feature several events to include: presentations, special events, tours, reunions, music performances, picnic cookout and a celebration tribute dinner.

Ticket registration is at the bottom of this story.

All events open to the public.

Please reserve tickets early by Wed, Oct 2, 2019 for all the reserved events.

“We are very excited to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Learning Tree film during The 16th Annual Gordon Parks Celebration this year with a wide range of great events and activities for all to enjoy,” Sharp said.  “The celebration is for everyone to attend. This is a wonderful way to celebrate the life and work of Gordon Parks.”

 

The Celebration kicks off on Thursday, Oct 3 with a Fort Scott Chamber Coffee at the Gordon Parks Museum and ends with a Tribute Celebration Dinner at The River Room, 3 West Oak, Fort Scott on Saturday, Oct 5, 2019.

2019 GORDON PARKS CELEBRATION
(50th Anniversary of the film The Learning Tree)
Schedule of Events

Thursday, October 3

PHOTO EXHIBIT in the Lunt Lobby of the Fine Arts Center. The Merl Humphrey Photography-sponsored photo contest will be on display with the theme of “My Learning Tree, Life Lessons Learned.” Winners will be announced at the Chamber Coffee.
PHOTO EXHIBIT in the Gordon Parks Museum and Lobby of the Fine Arts Center. The Gordon Parks Mercy Foundation Collection with some of Gordon’s photos and poems will be on display.
PHOTO EXHIBIT in the Lobby of the Fine Arts Center. Some behind the scenes photographs of the film The Learning Tree will be on display.

8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Registration open outside of Gordon Parks museum.

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. — Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Coffee at the Gordon Parks Museum.

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. — Showing of the film The Learning Tree in the Gordon Parks Museum. FREE.

2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Guided Trolley Tour of Gordon Parks’ Fort Scott & The Learning Tree Film Scene Locations. Meet at the entrance of the FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center. See the places in Fort Scott that are part of Gordon Parks’ history. Fee: $7.

5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. — Showing of the film The Learning Tree in the Gordon Parks Museum. FREE.

7:30 p.m. – “Looking Through the Lens at the Historical Greenwood District in Tulsa”
Photographer, Painter, Author and Photo Journalist; Don Thompson will show through photographs and short stories the demise and rise of the Greenwood District during the 1960s and ’70s and the recovery that is now taking place in the 21st century through the faces and spaces he captured with over 50 years of photographic experience. FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Gordon Parks Museum. FREE.

Friday, October 4
8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Registration open outside of the museum.

7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. — Showing of the film The Learning Tree in the Gordon Parks Museum. FREE.

9:00 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. — “Masters Class of Jazz and Blues” Queen Bey, Kansas City’s Ambassador of Jazz will make a presentation on music and the history of jazz and blues. FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center Auditorium. This presentation was supported in part by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. FREE.

10:05 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. — “A Conversation with Choice of Weapon Honorees.” The 2019 “Choice of Weapons Award” honorees Karole Graham, Stephen Perry and S. Pearl Sharp. FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Auditorium. FREE.

11:30 a.m. —“Remembrance Service of Gordon Parks.” Come and gather at the gravesite of Gordon Parks for a memorial service. Evergreen Cemetery. (If inclement weather, the location will be in the Ellis Fine Arts Center). Buses are not allowed in the cemetery.

12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. — Grab a sack lunch from the lobby ($8-purchase that day) and join us in the museum.

1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. — “Gordon Parks Projects Presentation” Students from the Gordon Parks High School in St. Paul, MN will share some of their latest work and projects about Gordon Parks. FREE.

2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. — “Sarah, Ella, and Bessie: The Mothers of Gordon Parks” John Mason, Associate Professor, Associate Chair, and University of Virginia Department of History. Three women, all of them mothers, played crucial roles in Gordon Parks’ life. His own mother, Sarah Parks, profoundly shaped his character. Ella Watson, who resembled Sarah in many ways, was the subject of his first great photograph. Bessie Fontanelle, like Sarah and Ella, was the glue which held her family together and was the center around which one of his finest photo-essays revolved. FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Gordon Parks Museum. FREE.

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. — “From The Czar of Black Hollywood to the Oscars: Fiction and Filmmaking from Kansas”. Shayna Israel, Project on the History of Black Writing/Department of English, the University of Kansas and Danyelle M. Greene, Film and Media Studies, University of Kansas. The presentation will focus on three major Kansas filmmakers: Oscar Micheaux (Great Bend) Gordon Parks (Ft. Scott), and Kevin Wilmott (Junction City), comparing and contrasting the contributions of three groundbreaking authors and filmmakers in three different eras of American cultural history. FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center/Gordon Parks Museum. FREE.

5:30 p.m. – 6:30p.m. Guided Trolley Tour Gordon Parks’ Fort Scott & The Learning Tree Film Scene Locations. Meet at the entrance of the FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center. See the places in Fort Scott that are part of Gordon Parks’ history. Fee: $7.

7:00 p.m. – “A Night of Jazz” (Social Hour starts at 6:00 p.m.) Featuring, Queen Bey (Kansas City’s Ambassador of Jazz) along with heavy hors d’oeuvres and cash bar available. FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center. Fee: $25.00 which includes heavy hors d’oeuvres and tea or water. Reserve Tickets by Wed, Oct.2. This performance was supported in part by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

 

Saturday, October 5
7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. — Showing of the film The Learning Tree in the Gordon Parks Museum. FREE.

9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.: Registration open outside of the museum.

9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – “Behind The Learning Tree” Reunion with some of The Learning Tree cast members: Karole Graham, Stephen Perry and S. Pearl Sharp, along with David Parks, photographer, film director and author, film crew and extras along with panel discussion and presentations. FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center. FREE.

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.— “Picnic at the Park” Come and enjoy a cook-out lunch at Gunn Park, a scene location in the film The Learning Tree. Shelter House #1. (In case of inclement weather, the location will be in the Ellis Fine Arts Center). Please Reserve Tickets by Friday, Oct 4. Fee $8.

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Guided Trolley Tour of Gordon Parks’ Fort Scott and The Learning Tree movie scene locations. Meet at the entrance of the FSCC Ellis Fine Arts Center. See the places in Fort Scott that are part of Gordon Parks’ history. Fee: $7

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. — Showing of the film The Learning Tree in the Gordon Parks Museum. FREE.

7:00 p.m. – “Celebration Tribute Dinner.” (Social Hour starts at 6:00 p.m.) Dinner and evening of tribute; 50th-year anniversary retrospective of the release of the film The Learning Tree and presentation of the 2019 “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” to Karole Graham, Stephen Perry and S. Pearl Sharp, cast members of the film The Learning Tree. The River Room, 3 W. Oak. This tribute dinner is supported in part by Peerless Products, Inc. in Fort Scott, KS. All seats reserved. Fee: $30.00. (Reserve by Wed, Oct.2)

Sunday, October 6
10:00 a.m. — Breakfast at Nate’s Place. Enjoy breakfast at one of Fort Scott’s finest! Located on the corner of National & 8th Street, you’re sure to find something on the menu to please. Check it out at lyonstwinmansions.com/nates-place-restaurant. (No ticket required-everyone pays for their own)

TICKET PURCHASE FOR THE 2019 CELEBRATION:

Friday, October 4th Night of Jazz -Reservation Only (all other tickets may be purchased on-site). Please reserve by Wednesday, October 2, please!

Saturday, October 5th Picnic at the Park -Reservation Only (all other tickets may be purchased on-site).
Please reserve by Friday, October 4, please!

Saturday, October 5th Tribute Dinner-Reservation Only (all other tickets may be purchased on-site).
Please reserve by Wednesday, October 2, please!

A Night of Jazz: I would like to purchase _______ tickets at $25 each for a total of $ ________.
Picnic at the Park: I would like to purchase _______ tickets at $8 each for a total of $ ________.
Celebration Tribute Dinner: I would like to purchase _______ tickets at $30 each for a total of $ ________.
Total Registration Cost………………………………………………………………..$________.
Name, Address: __________________________________________________________________________
Phone # & Email: _________________________________________________________________________
__________CHECK ENCLOSED payable to the Gordon Parks Museum or
__________Bill to my _________VISA or ________ MasterCard. Card #______________________________
Exp. Date______________ 3-digit Security Code ______________
Questions? Call us at 620-223-2700, ext. 5850 or email: [email protected]

This 16th annual celebration was supported in part by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Thank you to Peerless Products, Inc. for their generous support to our Celebration Dinner at the River Room.
###