Fort Scott Biz

Gordon Parks Museum Newsletter

A panel in the Gordon Parks Museum.

Gordon Parks Museum Newsletter Update

June 22, 2023

Artist, Cbabi Bayoc is selected for the

1st Kansas Colored Infantry Mural Project

The selected artist for the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry mural has just been announced. Congratulations to Cbabi Bayoc! We can’t wait to see this new mural in our historic downtown of Fort Scott, KS.

The Fort Scott Downtown Chamber Division will facilitate the creation of a mural in honor and remembrance of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment that was established here and trained in Fort Scott, KS. This was the first African-American regiment to fight against the Confederacy in the Civil War.

To learn more about the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry and their amazing story, go to the mural project facebook page at Murals of Fort Scott

Gordon Parks Museum receives the African American Methodist Episcopal (AME)

Church Property

(left to right) Josh Jones, Kirk Sharp, Gordon Parks Museum and Sarah Smith, Fort Scott Community College Foundation
The ground on which the historic African-American Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church once stood is now the property of the Gordon Parks Museum, thanks to Fort Scott resident Josh Jones and the Fort Scott Community College Foundation.

 

Jones donated the site on the southeast corner of Third and Lowman streets where the church, attended regularly by Gordon Parks and his family, was located. The church was also used in a scene from Parks’ acclaimed film, “The Learning Tree.”

“We are very excited about this donation and can’t thank Josh and the Foundation enough,” said museum executive director Kirk Sharp. “This donation creates this wonderful opportunity to keep this incredible history alive in Fort Scott. This is also the same location that is located on our Learning Tree Film Sign Trail.”

The tentative plans, Sharp said, are to develop the property as a commemorative low-maintenance park with signs, photos, benches and short walls as a tribute to the AME church.

“The museum will look for possible grants and donations to help fund this project,” he noted. “There is currently on timeline as of now for the completion of the tribute project.”

In its heyday, the church, established in 1866, was the hub of Fort Scott’s black community. The church moved from its original location in 1885, occupying a new brick building on the corner of Third and Lowman, where it stood at 301 S. Lowman with a viable congregation for more than 115 years.

A reduction in members and unsafe conditions eventually led to its condemnation and razing in the early 2000s, Sharp said. One of the stained-glass windows and two of the pews are on exhibit at the Gordon Parks Museum.

“The largest congregation was believed to have been in 1888,” he said. “The city directory for that year indicates the membership was 260 and the Sunday school membership was 100.”

 

The AME church was Fort Scott’s first and oldest black church with Shiloh Baptist being the second.

(left to right) Josh Jones, Kirk Sharp, Gordon Parks Museum and Sarah Smith, Fort Scott Community College Foundation.
AME Church

Gordon Parks, 1950.

Photo Courtesy of and Copyright by The Gordon Parks Foundation

To Register Online Click Here Registration

The schedule of events for the 20th Annual Gordon Parks Celebration for

October 5 -7, 2023 are now available. For more information, go to our website at www.gordonparkscenter.org. Reservation and ticket purchases are available online our event page https://www.gordonparkscenter.org/events.

Reservations and payments can also be mailed to:

The Gordon Parks Museum

2108 S. Horton St, Fort Scott, KS 66701

Please contact us if you have any questions. 620-223-2700 ext. 5850 or

email: gordonparkscenter@fortscott.edu

WE ARE LOOKNG FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYONE AT THIS YEARS’ CELEBRATION, AS WE CELEBRATE OUR 20TH YEAR!

“Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” 2023 Recipients

Tommy Dodson, Mario E. Sprouse and Deborah Willis will be the recipients of the “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” at the annual celebration

October 5th -7th, 2023 in Fort Scott, Kansas. The celebration is in honor of Fort Scott native Gordon Parks, noted photographer, writer, musician, and filmmaker. The Choice of Weapons Award was established in Parks’ honor to be given annually at the celebration.

Tommy Dodson

 

Fort Scott native musician, photographer and author. See his full bio in the link below.

Tommy Dodson Bio

Mario E. Sprouse

Well-known musician, arranger, composer, and musical director See his full bio in the link below.

Mario E. Sprouse Bio

Deborah Willis

Artist, author and curator. See her full bio in the link below.

Deborah Willis Bio

To purchase your tickets online go to:

Celebration Dance Party Ticket Purchase

2023 Gordon Parks Photo and Poetry Contests

2023 Gordon Parks Museum

Photo Contest

THEME: “Family, Home and Roots”

This photo contest is inspired by Gordon Parks and his love for his family and upbringing.

This is open to any amateur photographer. Photographers are invited to capture the essence of the theme.

Read more…

Gordon Parks Museum

Poetry Contest

THEME: “Family, Home and Roots”

This poetry contest is inspired by Gordon Parks and his love for his family and upbringing.

This is open to any emerging poets of all ages and skill levels who have not yet been published in a book are invited to write a poem for this contest.

Read more…

Find us on the website link below
Gordon Parks Museum Website
Keep in Touch..
Gordon Parks Museum | 2108 S. Horton St., Fort Scott, KS 66701
Exit mobile version